Table of contents:
If you are going to bars and restaurants this summer, you will have come face to face with the “new normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic. These premises no longer have letters to avoid having items that can transmit the virus between different clients. Instead they have opted for simple technology that has been with us for a long time, even if we don't use it often. These are the QR codes Squares that you can scan as if they were barcodes with your mobile phone's camera to quickly access a web page.Here you will see all the drinks, dishes and services of the place so that you only have to touch your mobile. Of course you need a tool to read these codes.
Therefore we have prepared this simple guide with free QR code reader applications. We have also searched the Google Play Store in search of those most popular tools and with less. So that using them is a mere quick and easy process, and not a constant escape from ads and banners
Google Lens
This app you don't even have to download if you have an updated Android mobile. This is a function included in some Google services. Take advantage of the ability to understand what your mobile camera sees and be able to scan the code, but also do written text translations, search for objects on the Internet, etc
5 Google Lens functions you need to know how to use on your Android phone
You only have to press and hold the Home button on your mobile for a few seconds to invoke the Google Assistant. Or slide your finger from the bottom corner (either left or right) up. Within the assistant, look at the icons in the lower central part. Here will be a square with a colon forming a camera icon That's Google Lens.
By clicking on it you can activate the mobile camera and take a screenshot of any QR code you have in view. It will instantly show you the link to the web page with which it is linked so that you can travel to it. And all this without having to download anything, completely free,and without avoiding ads of any kind.
QR and barcode reader
It is currently the most popular app on Google Play. And we can bet that it is due to its simplicity and keeping the one that sustains it within limited. You can download it for free from this link on your Android mobile.
Once you launch it for the first time you will discover that it not only scans QR codes, but you can also use it to read product barcodesand search for them on the Internet. After the tutorial you will have to choose if you want to scan with the camera or directly an image that you have previously taken with it. If you decide to use the camera you will have to give the usual permission for its use and frame the code in the template that appears on the screen.
The QR and bar code reader application automatically detects the code, vibrates and shows you a screen with the link to the web Here It will also clearly mark the ad that it includes. The good thing is that you can continue to operate with the app without paying attention to it. Click on the link to go directly to the website.
Free QR Reader
This application can also boast of simplicity. You just have to download it from the Google Play Store to start using it at no cost. Once you start it, it asks you for permission to use your mobile camera and it starts working. No configuration of any kind Just a message informing you that the app complies with European data protection regulations.
So all you have to do is scan a code. It does not matter if it is of bars or QR. It is an extremely fast application As soon as you have entered the code, your mobile vibrates and presents you with a screen. In it there is an ad at the bottom, but practically reduced to the minimum expression. In the rest of the screen you will find a link card to a web page, contact information or any detail that is linked to the QR code.
QR / Barcode Scanner
It is another very simple and agile application, although with something more than . Perhaps for this reason it is not one of the first options among the popular applications in the Google Play Store. But it is equally valid both for QR codes and barcodes You can download it for free.
You'll have to give him permission to use your phone's camera and thus scan codes, of course. Accept the terms of use and you will see that the application does not take even half a second to detect the code itself. If it appears at some point on the screen, it will be quickly detected and you will be shown a screen with all the information: the link to the web page, the product or contact information, and even the capture of the code image. Of course, here there will be a small banner of included in the middle of the card, although well labeled.
The only problem we have found with this app is that if you visit the web page and press back to return to the app, you will most likely skip one of those video ads Something that will prevent you from doing a new scan quickly. Although it doesn't seem like a big problem to us thanks to the agility of the application.
QR Code Reader
This app is also free. And it doesn't have . At least in the tests we have carried out. It is found in the Google Play Store and has a high positive feedback rate.
It is not as agile as the others. You will have to pass a couple of initial screens and give permission for it to use the mobile camera. But it scans QR codes at the speed of light Afterwards, it automatically shows you a card with the address of the web to which that QR code is linked.Or if it is the contact information or any other similar details.
What we liked is that it has a scanning history So you can revisit the web pages associated with those scanned QR codes even when you don't have them in front of you. But there is also another interesting function: create your own QR codes You can choose between different types: message, event, contact, phone, text, WiFi password or web page . And thus create this content for others to scan.
