The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus

Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by 3PS on Saturday October 29, 2022 @07:24PM (#33388986)

> 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.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by kodt on Saturday October 29, 2022 @07:32PM (#33389030)

Older Androids definitely needed an app but I’m talking like the Google G1 and G2 etc..

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by gruez on Saturday October 29, 2022 @07:29PM (#33389008)

It's vendor specific. Some have camera apps that do have scanners integrated, some don't.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by MishaalRahman on Saturday October 29, 2022 @09:16PM (#33389851)

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.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by Animats on Sunday October 30, 2022 @02:57AM (#33391899)

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.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by matttb on Saturday October 29, 2022 @09:58PM (#33390184)

My pixel3 doesn't do this

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by pixelthrowaway on Saturday October 29, 2022 @10:10PM (#33390282)

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.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by oneeyedpigeon on Sunday October 30, 2022 @05:07AM (#33392611)

The most awkward thing is that the link is like a tooltip: it fades away very quickly, so you often have to rescan the QR code.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by exhilaration on Saturday October 29, 2022 @10:01PM (#33390215)

My Pixel 3A does, interesting to see the difference

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by pjmorris on Sunday October 30, 2022 @02:49AM (#33391859)

My Pixel 3a also scans QR codes.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by oh_sigh on Saturday October 29, 2022 @11:57PM (#33390913)

Have you updated your camera app? When I point mine at a QR code of a URL a little bubble appears below it, which you can click on.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by matttb on Sunday October 30, 2022 @12:21AM (#33391039)

I've certainly never tried to stop it from updating. It's on version 8.4.600.440402475.27. When I point mine at a QR code absolutely nothing at all happens

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by akaBruce on Sunday October 30, 2022 @01:14AM (#33391308)

I don't know if this is the same experience for you, but for a while I would just open the camera app without realizing I had to swipe over to Google Lens mode to have it detect QR codes.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by genocidicbunny on Sunday October 30, 2022 @01:50AM (#33391523)

Anecdotally, between a Pixel 4a, Pixel 7 pro, OnePlus 6 and 7 Pro, none of them ever successfully scanned QR codes in photos. All required a separate app to correctly recognize QR codes.

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Re:The Restaurant Industry’s Worst Idea: QR Code Menus by oneeyedpigeon on Sunday October 30, 2022 @05:06AM (#33392604)

Weird - I was using a Pixel 1 until recently and the camera app dealt with QR codes just fine.

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