
Ask HN: Does anyone still use QR codes? - byoung2
These seemed to be big a few years ago, but I haven&#x27;t heard much about QR codes recently. What is the preferred way of sharing a link in the physical world? NFC?
======
Someone1234
QR 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
I 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.

------
kremdela
I always found this funny:
[http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/](http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/)

~~~
byoung2
I suspected I was being trolled but I clicked anyway! Well played!

------
cableshaft
Nintendo 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
They 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.

------
NkWsy
For 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.

------
azdle
I 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");})()

------
J-dawg
Whatsapp 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)

------
tmaly
I 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
I 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.

------
ColinWright
Recently 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.

------
coreyp_1
I 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
You'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-
alt...](https://econsultancy.com/blog/64891-six-mobile-marketing-alternatives-
to-qr-codes/)

------
rahimnathwani
Here 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
They 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.

------
arsenide
I was on a US continental flight yesterday and my boarding pass was on my
phone as a QR code.

~~~
w0rd
Flights 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.

------
giaour
They 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)

------
wodenokoto
It'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.

------
alan5
Steve 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)

------
Raed667
I 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
A 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.

------
brikwilliams
I 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.

------
usermac
Right 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.

------
yetanotheracc
Conference posters

------
askafriend
They're HUGE in Asia. Especially in China.

