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Comment by captn3m0 | Hacker News Reader

It is 2021 and Android still doesn't have a QR code scanner by default.

Actually they do if they have Google Assistant, which I imagine anyone with Android 7 or later will. If you use the Google Lens feature it will decode barcodes and QR codes. But unfortunately this feature is pretty much self-discovery rather than a publicised function

It isn't obvious, needs Lens installed, which needs Internet to work properly.

Not everyone wants to use more spying software.

I don't know if it differs from various vendor releases of android but certainly on my Samsung S20, QR codes can be read without an additional app just by pointing the camera app at one. I seem to recall my Pixel XL did the same.

It's built into the camera app

There is no "the camera app"; the manufacturer often provides their own. It may well be in recent versions of GCam, but quite often it requires you to bail out to Google Lens for some reason.

Android is like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates: you never quite know what you're going to get. And sometimes it's stale.

Samsung phones have it in the camera, so I guess most Android users do have a barcode scanner built-in.

Why are Android users installing all these apps then? https://play.google.com/store/search?q=QR%20scanner&c=apps&h...

Because most Android users don't know about Google Lens/their camera app and google "Barcode Scanner app" when they get their phone.

My Samsung has a built-in QR scanner, which I found out by accident.

I downloaded an app for it because it never crossed my mind it would be built into the camera app. After all I don't want to take pictures of the QR code, I want to decode it...

No idea when it was introduced. I've had an S3, S5 and now an S8 where I discovered it by accident last year. Pretty sure the S3 didn't have it.

Personally, when I installed the app, there wasn't one built in. I just still had it lying around.

The stock Camera app on my Android phone recognises QR codes. This is on Android 11 on a Pixel 3. I think this has been the case for a few versions of the OS (but don't have access to old versions to check).

Google lens does it, is it not part of stock android? My phone runs Android One, so I think it's all stock but I could've missed a subtlety.

Lens isn't AOSP, so it gets different treatment depending on your manufacturer.

the camera app scans qr codes on my pixels.

Limited to certain phones. Otherwise, how do we explain millions of installs on QR code apps?

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