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Comment by roel_v | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone ever scan a qr code? Besides, I haven't seen any for maybe 2 years now - or have I just become blind to them?

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http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com

I lol at this page every time I open it, even after all those years. Call me immature, I guess...

Almost any user manual nowadays has a QR code, I also see it on magazines, even in printed ads (in Finland also).

However, the UX is really bad: 1. most people don't know what they are 2. if they learn, then they have to find a QR reader app 3. reading experience: pick phone from pocket, open it, find the app, start it, scan it.

Possible solution: 1. phones should have it pre-installed 2. it should be simple to snap a qr tag (e.g. without opening, e.g. with hotkey) 3. url should go to notifications queue or very easily accessible, also for integrations 4. users should be better educated, e.g. when there is a qr tag in a magazine there should be a short explanation. (https://www.quikklytags.com/#/ seems very promising from this point of view)

I think QR tags have huge untapped potential.

Yeh your phone camera app should just do it. I spent ages going through the android store to phone an app the didn't[0] want my entire contacts list or browsing history to scan a glorified sudoku.

[0]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tw.mobileapp.q...

In the same spirit, it is mindblowing that some Android phones do not even have a flashlight app (I had a flashlight in my dumbphone 8 years ago), and the same applies - most flashlight apps need exorbitant permissions; I found [0] as the only one that doesn't need anything else than, well, camera and flashlight access.

I see Android as OS may not want to support it as some phones/tablets do not have physical flashlight. This would be a genuine occasion for vendors to provide something themselves which is not a bloated crapware, but not all of them do it.

[0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.snoopwall....

I've not updated my moto gallery app because it wants new permissions to "Contacts" for god knows why. So I don't think the OEMs would do it properly anyway.

Street view update now wants identity, photos/files, camera and wifi info. On top of location of which as least made sense.

Here's one that's a bit more popular and worked on my chinese android phone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoils...

Good find! I've been using LampA, which was a "Show HN" a few months ago (I thought), but I can't find it now. Privacy Flashlight is fuller-featured anyway.

I live in Finland and I see them every now and then. I myself read them quite rarely, though. Only if it's a good offer or it benefits me some other way. Most of those codes are just for more info -type which don't really seem to interest people, including myself. The idea of QR codes are kinda okay but the implementations lack of imagination.

I can pay at my local store by scanning the QR code for the specific register. The app then let me chose to pay for the currently ongoing transaction at that register. It's neat.

Besides such application specific use cases they seem dead though.

Where is that? Never heard of that use case. Have you ever asked the merchant how many people use it?

I often scan them to hire a bike in Glasgow, the mobile app uses a QR code to identify the bike and give me the lock code.

Commonplace in Asia. Especially for IM apps to add friends etc.

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