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Ask HN: Does anyone still use QR codes?
These seemed to be big a few years ago, but I haven't heard much about QR codes recently. What is the preferred way of sharing a link in the physical world? NFC?
- coreyp_1 11y agoI don't use them. I have no reason to use them. Having said that, I still think that they are a great idea, there's just not a "killer" use case for them for the general public in everyday use.
- byoung2 11y agoYou're right, they never found that killer use case. The use case I'm interested in is something like a purchase receipt from a store or restaurant, and you want the customer to go to a page or open an app to write a review. A QR code printed on a paper receipt would be perfect, if people actually used them. I found this article[1] that talks about alternatives, namely augmented reality, NFC, iBeacons, clickable paper, Google Goggles, and SnapTags. Nothing seems as straightforward as QR codes promised to be. 1. https://econsultancy.com/blog/64891-six-mobile-marketing-alternatives-to-qr-codes/ https://econsultancy.com/blog/64891-six-mobile-marketing-alt...
- NkWsy 11y agoFor bitcoin on occasion, but that's it. It is odd though, I always imagine QR codes to be this magical static method to share information, but then I rarely ever use it. I believe that since it took so long to be developed as a native feature in phones, people never really adapted to scanning all the time. I saw a well meaning nonprofit put a QR on their bumpersticker. Most dangerous QR in history.
- J-dawg 11y agoWhatsapp web and Google Authenticator spring to mind. They both use QR codes to associate a mobile device with a web app. Definitely nicer than typing in a long token, and avoids an extra step of (e.g.) emailing it to you. I never understood the point of using them to share links, it's almost always faster to just type in the URL or Google it (unless, I suppose, you wanted to share a very long or unique URL)
- ColinWright 11y agoRecently when visiting Norway I found them everywhere, and they were brilliant. Extra information, links to facilities, just everything. In the UK they are here and there in a half-hearted and desultory fashion. When they are on something that looks interesting I scan them, and about half the time they lead to useful things, the rest of the time it just duplicates stuff already there. As with so many other things, the technology is divorced from everyday design. The designers of the visuals don't know what to do with a QR code, and the people who do know what's possible aren't involved in the design of the objects we see. Complete disconnect, and so the technology - which could see so much imaginative use - languishes.
- yetanotheracc 11y agoConference posters
- kremdela 11y agoI always found this funny: http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/
- byoung2 11y agoI suspected I was being trolled but I clicked anyway! Well played!
- Someone1234 11y agoQR codes are legitimately great for what they're good at: barcode replacements. And in answer to your question, yes, their usage has grown and expanded. While traditional barcodes remain for basic UPCs, a lot of manufacturers are utilising QR codes for expanded product information. The way that QR codes failed is that marketers and technologists wanted to use them for everything. Website URLs, business cards, phone numbers, etc. You name it, they wanted to QR-codify it. This failed because: (A) nobody wanted that information regardless, (B) QR codes were never well integrated into smartphones, (C) they abused them too soon and everyone got distrustful. I'm glad "social" QR codes are dead. I'm also glad to have QR codes as a better barcode alternative for the medium to long term.
- alexandrerond 11y agoI wouldn't say they "failed". QR-codes are one of the things which are now everywhere and weren't there a few years ago at all (see barcodes weren't use in all the places where now a QR-code stands). The fact that not many people cares to scan them (citation needed) is a different thing... still they are quite popular.
- giaour 11y agoThey turned out to be a less than optimal way to publish a book. http://www.wonder-tonic.com/books2barcodes/index.php http://www.wonder-tonic.com/books2barcodes/index.php
- askafriend 11y agoThey're HUGE in Asia. Especially in China.
- arsenide 11y agoI was on a US continental flight yesterday and my boarding pass was on my phone as a QR code.
- w0rd 11y agoFlights are one of the very few areas I have found QR codes to be useful. I'm usually able to check-in on my phone during the drive to the airport, add it to Passbook, and by the time I'm at the TSA screening area the ticket has made it's way to my watch. I'm always a little wary of clunking my watch on the glass screen of the barcode reader, but haven't had a problem yet. One time, on an American flight, the scanner at the gate was somewhat of a C shape and my watch + wrist wasn't able to fit inside of it, which was quickly resolved by pulling out my phone and sliding it into the scanner. On another positive note, TSA agents love it and always accuse me of being James Bond. Makes the screening process much more fun.
- tmaly 11y agoI wish the major mobile operating systems had built in support for them. I think that is the greatest hurdle to adoption in my opinion.
- byoung2 11y agoI think that's the real problem...you have to go find an app to read them. If your phone's built in camera detected them and suggested that you visit the link, that might make it easier.
- btgeekboy 11y agoAgreed. I recently wanted to read one, and had to pick one of the many. It's always a fun game trying to pick which one of the many that won't phone home what and where I scanned.
- Raed667 11y agoI have been to a social media session where they explained why (for that industry) QR codes are now kryptonite because they have been abused so much and users just associate them with bad Ux.
- Raed667 11y agoA funny story in a middle eastern country they put a huge QR code on a road billboard and expected users to scan it while they were driving the highway.
- alan5 11y agoSteve Gibson's SQRL looks to be an interesting application of QR codes. https://www.grc.com/sqrl/sqrl.htm https://www.grc.com/sqrl/sqrl.htm
- cableshaft 11y agoNintendo used to like to use QR codes for sharing level data (i.e. look at Pushmo, etc), and I always thought it was clever and there should be more of that. I just had to scan some internet forums for an interesting looking level, bring the game up on my 3DS, scan the code, and voila! I had the level in the game. I'm surprised they didn't do that for Mario Maker level codes.
- CM30 11y agoThey also used them to share characters in the form of Miis and Mario Tennis Open characters and costumes. It was definitely an interesting way of implementing free DLC, though though it obviously didn't work with any paid stuff.
- starshadowx2 11y agoAnimal Crossing uses QR codes for sharing player created designs (clothes, paths, flags, etc.)
- wodenokoto 11y agoIt's a mainstay for adding new contacts in Line and to some degree Facebook. Just the other day I saw a full poster add in the subway that was just a QR code. I still don't understand why QR readers don't come out-of-the-box on smartphones.
- brikwilliams 11y agoI scan/use them as a factor (with the Google Authenticator mobile app) with google-authenticator for secure logins to servers. I find they are quite useful in that capacity.
- rahimnathwani 11y agoHere in China, QR codes are often used for person-to-person or in-store payments (using Alipay or Wechat) and for adding a Wechat contact when you meet someone new.
- Avalaxy 11y agoThey are used a lot with Bitcoin, whatsapp uses them for pairing with the web interface, authenticator uses them to import keys. I think they're great. They're very fault tolerant and can contain a ton of information. It's a great way to scan stuff from you computer (or anywhere else) and import it into your phone.
- azdle 11y agoI use them constantly as a way of getting info from my computer to my phone. I use this bookmarklet to quickly generate a qr code that is either 1) the url of the page, 2) the text that is currently selected, or 3) the text entered into the popup: javascript:(function(){var stext = window.getSelection().toString(); text = stext == "" ? window.location : stext; text = window.prompt("Enter Text to Make QRCode", text); window.open("https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=500x500&chl="+encodeURI(text)+"&chls=H","qrlink","width=500,height=500");})()
- usermac 11y agoRight here, right now I'm at a dev group meeting and someone just spoke to me about how they just fielded a child pickup system using QR codes.