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Comment by forgotpwd16 | Hacker News Reader

I guess default camera apps have built-in QR recognition nowadays? Else this won't have been useful. Asking as I've always used Open Camera, which doesn't, and Barcode Scanner, when I need this functionality.

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iOS has had this functionality for a while now, but android is a lot more diverse

According to this https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208843 , it also just shows a notification on iOS, but I guess a URL that tells the camera holder they're being idiots would be good enough.

I just tried scanning a QR Code on 2 Android phones. The first one didn't do anything automatic, the second one detected it and added a button on the camera UI, if you press it, it will show the text (or URL) and you have to press "Open URL" to go there.

Interesting how the ad (YouTube video) oversells it, as if the URL loads itself. I wonder if that's how the ad agency (or whoever came up with this idea) sold it to the ambulance operators.

The default camera on my android does this plus way more. It attempts to do OCR. So if I point it at a QR code it'll parse it. If there is a url or phone number it'll be clickable. Addresses can open google maps. Etc.

It's honestly super impressive, and I noticed it at least 3 years ago on android.

Pointing the phone at a QR code doesn't do anything on my Pixel 5 using the built-in camera app.

Further, I can't even scan the colourful QR codes in the video even with a dedicated barcode scanning app.

Seems like a useless concept.

Interesting, I have a Pixel 5 and use the built-in camera app. When I point it at a QR code it presents me with a URL at the bottom to tap on. I can either do this or ignore it and take a photo of the QR code

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