8 ms·

Honestly I am very surprised to see so much love for the QR code menus here. I have had nothing but bad experiences with them. First of, on Android, the camera

Honestly I am very surprised to see so much love for the QR code menus here. I have had nothing but bad experiences with them. First of, on Android, the camera doesn't magically scan the QR code. You have to download a separate QR code scanner app for that. My wife and my parents all have Android phones and have no idea what to do when they see a QR code like that. The waiter usually just says "point your camera to it" because apparently everyone in the world assumes you have an iPhone and that's how it works there. When it doesn't work the waiter now has to do tech support on a random person's phone. Second, as others have said, the social aspect of looking at it together is totally lost. Which is quite big IMHO. Third, scrolling through a PDF or a page on a tiny screen makes it much harder to grasp the entire menu quickly. On a paper menu, I often just jump around and get inspired by the various dishes. Randomly scrolling up/down/left/right on a tiny screen feel awful compared to just letting your eyes drift. My vote is for a QR code and paper menus. Let the people decide what they like without excluding elderly or non-tech savvy people.

rrwo 4y ago
It's even worse when you you don't have internet access, and have to use a restaurant WiFi that requires you to sign up. Also, if you are dining with someone who has a food allergy, then all the "convenience" of online menusgoes away when a waiver has to bring their book of allergens to the table and manually take the order anyway.
- sdf4j 4y ago
  right, dining with someone with allergies remains as inconvenient as usual.
  - rrwo 4y ago
    And dining as someone with allergies is more inconvenient.
- ShakataGaNai 4y ago
  Well that also assumes you live in a part of the world that's civilized and has an allergy book. Seen it plenty in Europe and almost never in the US. Most of the time, in the US, if you say you have an allergy to something the waiter says "I don't know" or "I'll tell the chef".
- daveoc64 4y ago
  That's a bit weird to me. It's often the case in the UK that the mobile app/website in restaurants has full allergy information, including filters to only show items that match certain criteria.
  - filoleg 4y ago
    Same. Not a fan of QR menus for plenty of reasons, but allergies isn't one of them. Printed menus where I live (Seattle) tend to have the exact same info as the QR menus, which includes the allergen info. Which makes sense, because most of the time the QR menu is the exact same as the physical one (just printed out). And those that are not the same just have more info on the website, like full nutritional content and such.
  - rrwo 4y ago
    My experience with some restaurants is that they don't. The QR menu is just a PDF of the printed menu.
- martinflack 4y ago
  > all the "convenience" of online menus goes away when a waiver has to bring their book of allergens to the table and manually take the order anyway. Which is silly because an online menu is an amazing opportunity to do extensive dietary restriction support. In fact, it's so accomodative to have a filter to narrow/highlight menu choices that I'm surprised restaurants haven't done that and also made "Paleo" and other diets part of it. Plus every single menu entry could have expansions to show exact ingredients, etc., for extra research.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    Honestly, a lot of it seems to boil down to that digital menus can be superior to the traditional options, but a lot of places are kind of awful at software and websites so you get a wide spread of quality, a lot of which is hilariously inferior to paper.
  - rrwo 4y ago
    That costs money, and some restaurants already struggle with higher costs and fewer customers.
- winnie_ua 4y ago
  > their book of allergens to the table Wow, they have book of allergens? Is that with list of dushes from specific restoraunt? Or ith general reference book? Never saw that in my country. I guess we don't use these. If you have allergy you are just screwed.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Please let your server know of any allergies or food intolerances. Gluten-free options are available but our kitchen is not gluten-free. Delivery, tax, and document fees extra. Void where prohibited. All rights reserved.
    - letitbeirie 4y ago
      That's as American as Uncle Sam himself.
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    It's so common in the EU and UK that I think it's probably law, or a good way of complying with the law. It's specific to the restaurant's menu. Some places will list the allergens directly on the menu, with symbols or footnotes. Less common is a separate menu showing only e.g. lactose free options -- I've seen this at nicer places in the UK. Places like cafés and fast food where the menu is a blackboard or screen should have a book/file or similar. It is often just printed Word documents in a ringbinder, presumably prepared by the chef. McDonald's example: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g187049-d7284548-i165515090-McDonald_s-Swindon_Wiltshire_England.html https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g18704... (just see the picture) Ryanair in-flight menu example with symbols: https://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/management_treatment/articles/travelling-with-allergies-airlines-rose-08-17.html https://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/management_t... (Might _ua mean Ukraine? Then FWIW, I've seen this system in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.)
3PS 4y ago
> First of, on Android, the camera doesn't magically scan the QR code. Out of curiosity, what phones do you and your family use? Because my Android phone (a Pixel 4a) has never had any issues scanning QR codes by just pointing the camera at them.
- gruez 4y ago
  It's vendor specific. Some have camera apps that do have scanners integrated, some don't.
- kodt 4y ago
  Older Androids definitely needed an app but I’m talking like the Google G1 and G2 etc..
- MishaalRahman 4y ago
  Some OEM camera apps have built-in QR code detection (using Google Lens or something else) but not all do. Starting in Android 13, a QR code scanner is accessible from Quick Settings on all GMS devices. This QR code scanner is built into Google Play Services though so it's not available on AOSP builds.
  - Animats 4y ago
    Right. I use F-Droid and have Google stuff turned off. I do have an app, Binary Eye, that can scan QR codes, UPC codes, Code 39, etc. But it doesn't have permission to launch a browser. I have to paste the code into Fennec. I need to do this maybe twice a year. I've never seen QR codes in restaurants in Silicon Valley.
- matttb 4y ago
  My pixel3 doesn't do this
  - pixelthrowaway 4y ago
    I have a (normal) pixel 3 and it does do it, but the UI is terrible and sometimes doesn't engage. And when it does the link shows up in what I found to be an awkward place. I'm about 90% sure this used to work better on an older version of android.
beezlewax 4y ago
I've android and don't need an app
1123581321 4y ago
I had thought that iPhones were the weird ones for taking so long to natively scan QR codes.
- filoleg 4y ago
  Too long? It shows up immediately for me as soon as i point the camera at a QR code. Like, with a sub-second delay at most, but it feels instant.
  - 1123581321 4y ago
    Sorry, I meant as far as how many years it took to release an OS that natively supported QR code scanning. However, I double-checked and it looks like Oreo was the first version of Android to offer it natively via built-in Google services, and iOS got it with iOS 11, and both OSes released in 2017.
spoils19 4y ago
> First of, on Android, the camera doesn't magically scan the QR code. Most Android phones do this automatically - and it's not too hard to write up a quick app for it to scan automatically when it detects a QR code. > Second, as others have said, the social aspect of looking at it together is totally lost. Which is quite big IMHO. My friends and I all browse together on our phones and we excitedly point out different menu items, that we can look at independently without having to cram together looking at a piece of paper. Otherwise I don't know how this is any different than having separate menus. > Third, scrolling through a PDF or a page on a tiny screen makes it much harder to grasp the entire menu quickly. On a paper menu, I often just jump around and get inspired by the various dishes. Randomly scrolling up/down/left/right on a tiny screen feel awful compared to just letting your eyes drift. Scrolling through a PDF / page has always been fine for my friends and I. I'm also not entirely sure why I would want my eyes to drift when actively looking for something to eat as well?
- conorcleary 4y ago
  The security issue is forcing non-technical end users to troll through an app store to find "qr reader" and also not fall for the hundreds of scamware they'll encounter immediately in the search results.
- mgkimsal 4y ago
  > Most Android phones do this automatically - and it's not too hard to write up a quick app for it to scan automatically when it detects a QR code You just 'write up a quick app' in the middle of a restaurant?
  - tmtvl 4y ago
    If you can't write up a full-featured QR code scanner from scratch in 15 seconds, can you really call yourself a programmer? On a more serious note, though, I wouldn't be much impressed with QR code menus. I usually have my 4G off, I don't trust random wifi networks, and I don't like smartphones as a form factor for any text over 500 characters.
    - 4y ago
ramraj07 4y ago
It’s 2022, if your phone doesn’t natively scan a QR code from the camera app you need to switch phones.
- xtracto 4y ago
  This post is so entitled. It's 2022 and I am using a Samsung A8 phone from 2018 which is pretty good and perfect size for me, thank you very much. Not everyone makes $450,000 USD a year and can change phone every month, I am sorry.
  - mgkimsal 4y ago
    Amen. You want to come in to my business and give me money? Upgrade your phone! Then scroll through a 4" version of the 18" menu we scanned in and then threw away.
  - kkielhofner 4y ago
    The iPhone 5s from 2013 (109 months ago) scans QR codes from the default camera app just fine. Still gets security updates too. This is unparalleled in the Android ecosystem. I’m not going to get into yet another platform flame war and I’m sure you have plenty of reasons why you selected your device and they’re valid. But if your post is about longevity and economics iPhone wins hands down.
    - TomDavey 4y ago
      Indeed. My iPhone 6s (lovely big screen) has worked perfectly since 2015. I'm disappointed that IOS 16 won't be available for it, but I really can't complain after continuous, impeccable compatibility for almost eight years. And, as the parent noted, my 6s is still getting security updates; current is 15.7.1. I'd swear Apple is sneaking in some UI polishing too.
  - systoll 4y ago
    > It's 2022 and I am using a Samsung A8 phone from 2018 which is pretty good And if it can’t scan QR codes from the camera app, that’s purely because your carrier is withholding software updates from you. It’s built-in from Android 8.0 and Samsung supports the 2018 A8 up to Android 9. I get the sentiment, but the ire is better directed at those preventing older/cheaper phones from doing what they’re capable of.
analog31 4y ago
On my android phone, the feature has to be turned on. Fortunately someone showed me how to do that as I fumbled at a restaurant.
crazygringo 4y ago
This isn't an Android vs Apple thing. Both of them introduced native QR code scanning in the same year -- 2017. That's five years ago. So I don't know what version of Android you're using, or what camera app. But honestly, in 2022 it's kind of up to you to know how to scan a QR code, the same way you're expected to know how to type a domain name into a web browser. If someone has to teach you the first time then that's fine, there's a first time for everything, but the idea that there are people who haven't done it before isn't a reason to hold us back. And if you have a phone with a pre-2017 operating system or that otherwise doesn't support it in its native camera app, you can install an app for it. But yes, places generally always have a backup option, whether a paper menu or tablet. I mean, people's cell phones run out of battery all the time. It's not just the elderly or non-tech-savvy ;)
- tharkun__ 4y ago
  If my phone has something like this I would have turned it off when first going over a new phones settings. It's one of the first things I do. Go through every single menu I can find and turn off stuff I don't want. Something constantly using my camera to scan for QR codes is definitely something I will turn off. Just like say "Face ID". Who thinks those are good ideas? For the record I have scanned exactly 0 QR codes in my life.
  - NavinF 4y ago
    - krispyfi 4y ago
      seen how the sausage is made, etc.
  - tomjen3 4y ago
    You are aware that this is happening locally on your phone, right? I have no idea whatsoever what caused you to dislike QR codes, but I kinda want to hear the story. Face Id, I can kinda see as a pin might be more secure.
zbrozek 4y ago
I went to a restaurant on Friday where the sit-down experience was identical to the online-ordering take-out experience but with a table in front of the pick-up counter. The food was fantastic but I hated the experience. Some time ago I had coffee with someone in a cafe that did the same thing. I never went back to that cafe again. We spent a full ten minutes of our ~hour time not talking to each other because we were too busy futzing with an awkward online ordering system.
megablast 4y ago
What?? Android had it years before iOS.
- kergonath 4y ago
  Not quite. They both got it at around the same time, in 2017. Both OSes had several apps doing it for quite a while at that point, though.
  - fomine3 4y ago
    Most Android OEMs don't use stock camera app but use their own app, and most manufacturers are in Asia, so they support scan QR earlier by default.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

rrwo 4y ago

It's even worse when you you don't have internet access, and have to use a restaurant WiFi that requires you to sign up. Also, if you are dining with someone who has a food allergy, then all the "convenience" of online menusgoes away when a waiver has to bring their book of allergens to the table and manually take the order anyway.

sdf4j 4y ago
right, dining with someone with allergies remains as inconvenient as usual.
- rrwo 4y ago
  And dining as someone with allergies is more inconvenient.
ShakataGaNai 4y ago
Well that also assumes you live in a part of the world that's civilized and has an allergy book. Seen it plenty in Europe and almost never in the US. Most of the time, in the US, if you say you have an allergy to something the waiter says "I don't know" or "I'll tell the chef".
daveoc64 4y ago
That's a bit weird to me. It's often the case in the UK that the mobile app/website in restaurants has full allergy information, including filters to only show items that match certain criteria.
- filoleg 4y ago
  Same. Not a fan of QR menus for plenty of reasons, but allergies isn't one of them. Printed menus where I live (Seattle) tend to have the exact same info as the QR menus, which includes the allergen info. Which makes sense, because most of the time the QR menu is the exact same as the physical one (just printed out). And those that are not the same just have more info on the website, like full nutritional content and such.
- rrwo 4y ago
  My experience with some restaurants is that they don't. The QR menu is just a PDF of the printed menu.
martinflack 4y ago
> all the "convenience" of online menus goes away when a waiver has to bring their book of allergens to the table and manually take the order anyway. Which is silly because an online menu is an amazing opportunity to do extensive dietary restriction support. In fact, it's so accomodative to have a filter to narrow/highlight menu choices that I'm surprised restaurants haven't done that and also made "Paleo" and other diets part of it. Plus every single menu entry could have expansions to show exact ingredients, etc., for extra research.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  Honestly, a lot of it seems to boil down to that digital menus can be superior to the traditional options, but a lot of places are kind of awful at software and websites so you get a wide spread of quality, a lot of which is hilariously inferior to paper.
- rrwo 4y ago
  That costs money, and some restaurants already struggle with higher costs and fewer customers.
winnie_ua 4y ago
> their book of allergens to the table Wow, they have book of allergens? Is that with list of dushes from specific restoraunt? Or ith general reference book? Never saw that in my country. I guess we don't use these. If you have allergy you are just screwed.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Please let your server know of any allergies or food intolerances. Gluten-free options are available but our kitchen is not gluten-free. Delivery, tax, and document fees extra. Void where prohibited. All rights reserved.
  - letitbeirie 4y ago
    That's as American as Uncle Sam himself.
- Symbiote 4y ago
  It's so common in the EU and UK that I think it's probably law, or a good way of complying with the law. It's specific to the restaurant's menu. Some places will list the allergens directly on the menu, with symbols or footnotes. Less common is a separate menu showing only e.g. lactose free options -- I've seen this at nicer places in the UK. Places like cafés and fast food where the menu is a blackboard or screen should have a book/file or similar. It is often just printed Word documents in a ringbinder, presumably prepared by the chef. McDonald's example: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g187049-d7284548-i165515090-McDonald_s-Swindon_Wiltshire_England.html https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g18704... (just see the picture) Ryanair in-flight menu example with symbols: https://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/management_treatment/articles/travelling-with-allergies-airlines-rose-08-17.html https://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/management_t... (Might _ua mean Ukraine? Then FWIW, I've seen this system in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.)

3PS 4y ago

> First of, on Android, the camera doesn't magically scan the QR code. Out of curiosity, what phones do you and your family use? Because my Android phone (a Pixel 4a) has never had any issues scanning QR codes by just pointing the camera at them.

gruez 4y ago
It's vendor specific. Some have camera apps that do have scanners integrated, some don't.
kodt 4y ago
Older Androids definitely needed an app but I’m talking like the Google G1 and G2 etc..
MishaalRahman 4y ago
Some OEM camera apps have built-in QR code detection (using Google Lens or something else) but not all do. Starting in Android 13, a QR code scanner is accessible from Quick Settings on all GMS devices. This QR code scanner is built into Google Play Services though so it's not available on AOSP builds.
- Animats 4y ago
  Right. I use F-Droid and have Google stuff turned off. I do have an app, Binary Eye, that can scan QR codes, UPC codes, Code 39, etc. But it doesn't have permission to launch a browser. I have to paste the code into Fennec. I need to do this maybe twice a year. I've never seen QR codes in restaurants in Silicon Valley.
matttb 4y ago
My pixel3 doesn't do this
- pixelthrowaway 4y ago
  I have a (normal) pixel 3 and it does do it, but the UI is terrible and sometimes doesn't engage. And when it does the link shows up in what I found to be an awkward place. I'm about 90% sure this used to work better on an older version of android.

beezlewax 4y ago

I've android and don't need an app

1123581321 4y ago

I had thought that iPhones were the weird ones for taking so long to natively scan QR codes.

filoleg 4y ago
Too long? It shows up immediately for me as soon as i point the camera at a QR code. Like, with a sub-second delay at most, but it feels instant.
- 1123581321 4y ago
  Sorry, I meant as far as how many years it took to release an OS that natively supported QR code scanning. However, I double-checked and it looks like Oreo was the first version of Android to offer it natively via built-in Google services, and iOS got it with iOS 11, and both OSes released in 2017.

spoils19 4y ago

> First of, on Android, the camera doesn't magically scan the QR code. Most Android phones do this automatically - and it's not too hard to write up a quick app for it to scan automatically when it detects a QR code. > Second, as others have said, the social aspect of looking at it together is totally lost. Which is quite big IMHO. My friends and I all browse together on our phones and we excitedly point out different menu items, that we can look at independently without having to cram together looking at a piece of paper. Otherwise I don't know how this is any different than having separate menus. > Third, scrolling through a PDF or a page on a tiny screen makes it much harder to grasp the entire menu quickly. On a paper menu, I often just jump around and get inspired by the various dishes. Randomly scrolling up/down/left/right on a tiny screen feel awful compared to just letting your eyes drift. Scrolling through a PDF / page has always been fine for my friends and I. I'm also not entirely sure why I would want my eyes to drift when actively looking for something to eat as well?

conorcleary 4y ago
The security issue is forcing non-technical end users to troll through an app store to find "qr reader" and also not fall for the hundreds of scamware they'll encounter immediately in the search results.
mgkimsal 4y ago
> Most Android phones do this automatically - and it's not too hard to write up a quick app for it to scan automatically when it detects a QR code You just 'write up a quick app' in the middle of a restaurant?
- tmtvl 4y ago
  If you can't write up a full-featured QR code scanner from scratch in 15 seconds, can you really call yourself a programmer? On a more serious note, though, I wouldn't be much impressed with QR code menus. I usually have my 4G off, I don't trust random wifi networks, and I don't like smartphones as a form factor for any text over 500 characters.
  - 4y ago

ramraj07 4y ago

It’s 2022, if your phone doesn’t natively scan a QR code from the camera app you need to switch phones.

xtracto 4y ago
This post is so entitled. It's 2022 and I am using a Samsung A8 phone from 2018 which is pretty good and perfect size for me, thank you very much. Not everyone makes $450,000 USD a year and can change phone every month, I am sorry.
- mgkimsal 4y ago
  Amen. You want to come in to my business and give me money? Upgrade your phone! Then scroll through a 4" version of the 18" menu we scanned in and then threw away.
- kkielhofner 4y ago
  The iPhone 5s from 2013 (109 months ago) scans QR codes from the default camera app just fine. Still gets security updates too. This is unparalleled in the Android ecosystem. I’m not going to get into yet another platform flame war and I’m sure you have plenty of reasons why you selected your device and they’re valid. But if your post is about longevity and economics iPhone wins hands down.
  - TomDavey 4y ago
    Indeed. My iPhone 6s (lovely big screen) has worked perfectly since 2015. I'm disappointed that IOS 16 won't be available for it, but I really can't complain after continuous, impeccable compatibility for almost eight years. And, as the parent noted, my 6s is still getting security updates; current is 15.7.1. I'd swear Apple is sneaking in some UI polishing too.
- systoll 4y ago
  > It's 2022 and I am using a Samsung A8 phone from 2018 which is pretty good And if it can’t scan QR codes from the camera app, that’s purely because your carrier is withholding software updates from you. It’s built-in from Android 8.0 and Samsung supports the 2018 A8 up to Android 9. I get the sentiment, but the ire is better directed at those preventing older/cheaper phones from doing what they’re capable of.

analog31 4y ago

On my android phone, the feature has to be turned on. Fortunately someone showed me how to do that as I fumbled at a restaurant.

crazygringo 4y ago

This isn't an Android vs Apple thing. Both of them introduced native QR code scanning in the same year -- 2017. That's five years ago. So I don't know what version of Android you're using, or what camera app. But honestly, in 2022 it's kind of up to you to know how to scan a QR code, the same way you're expected to know how to type a domain name into a web browser. If someone has to teach you the first time then that's fine, there's a first time for everything, but the idea that there are people who haven't done it before isn't a reason to hold us back. And if you have a phone with a pre-2017 operating system or that otherwise doesn't support it in its native camera app, you can install an app for it. But yes, places generally always have a backup option, whether a paper menu or tablet. I mean, people's cell phones run out of battery all the time. It's not just the elderly or non-tech-savvy ;)

tharkun__ 4y ago
If my phone has something like this I would have turned it off when first going over a new phones settings. It's one of the first things I do. Go through every single menu I can find and turn off stuff I don't want. Something constantly using my camera to scan for QR codes is definitely something I will turn off. Just like say "Face ID". Who thinks those are good ideas? For the record I have scanned exactly 0 QR codes in my life.
- NavinF 4y ago
  - krispyfi 4y ago
    seen how the sausage is made, etc.
- tomjen3 4y ago
  You are aware that this is happening locally on your phone, right? I have no idea whatsoever what caused you to dislike QR codes, but I kinda want to hear the story. Face Id, I can kinda see as a pin might be more secure.

zbrozek 4y ago

I went to a restaurant on Friday where the sit-down experience was identical to the online-ordering take-out experience but with a table in front of the pick-up counter. The food was fantastic but I hated the experience. Some time ago I had coffee with someone in a cafe that did the same thing. I never went back to that cafe again. We spent a full ten minutes of our ~hour time not talking to each other because we were too busy futzing with an awkward online ordering system.

megablast 4y ago

What?? Android had it years before iOS.

kergonath 4y ago
Not quite. They both got it at around the same time, in 2017. Both OSes had several apps doing it for quite a while at that point, though.
- fomine3 4y ago
  Most Android OEMs don't use stock camera app but use their own app, and most manufacturers are in Asia, so they support scan QR earlier by default.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]