Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

I gotta say, I disagree with this piece. I, for one, love QR code menus. I can pinch zoom rather than squint at a menu with small/unreadable fonts in dim lighting. I don't need to badger the already exhausted wait staff on a busy night when they forget to drop us a menu or two. When orders are taken online, rather than awkwardly force a friend to not go to the bathroom (or take their kid to the bathroom) until a server can take their order, they can just order and then go. I do think restaurants should handle payment themselves and have the option for paper menus or menus posted on a wall if needed, but otherwise I'm a fan.

Ugh. Why can't we have both?

First of all it takes a shitton of steps to scan a QR code if you don't have WeChat. On a default Android device you have to click 7 or 8 times to get into the QR scanner thingy inside Google Lens. I carry a 2nd phone with WeChat and I can scan things in 0 seconds flat, but most people don't have it around here in the US.

And then many restaurants' QR menus just redirect you to their website with a terrible experience, and sometimes no pictures.

And then it's annoying as hell to try to read a phone screen in daylight outdoors.

If you can print a QR menu just print the damn menu also. Put the QR code on the menu cover for people who really want that.

These days I often just ask wait staff what they have because I don't want to look at my phone.

Normal camera app scans QR codes...

I have to swipe to the rightmost tab in normal camera app and then hit Google Lens and then hover over it while trying to top the tiny tooltip that pops up with my huge finger.

Horrible experience.

It should just open the web page with zero taps if I point at a QR code in ANY camera mode, even portrait or panorama or movie or whatever the last mode I was on. I shouldn't have to tell it "I'm going to scan a QR code", it should always be looking for one, because it's computationally very, very cheap.

On the iPhone, you literally just open the camera app, point it at the QR code, and a drop-down notification will prompt opening it in the browser. Thus, it is absolutely looking for one always as you describe.