How to scan a barcode with your phone

QR codes on an iPhone

Open the Camera app in Photo mode and hold the phone so the QR code sits inside the frame. A link appears at the bottom of the screen, and tapping it opens the content. Apple says you can tap the flashlight for more light, and that on supported models the Camera Control button opens the scanner too.

The second route is a control in Control Center. In the current iPhone User Guide it is called Scan Code. To add it, open Control Center, touch and hold the background, tap Add a Control and choose Scan Code from the gallery. The name has changed with the software. Apple's guide editions call it QR code reader in iOS 13 and Code Scanner from iOS 14 to iOS 17. From iOS 18 on they call it Scan Code. The iOS 18 edition also names the Camera Control on iPhone 16 models.

Apple's pages describe QR codes only. The word barcode does not appear on them. So if a store barcode will not read in the Camera app, nothing is wrong with the phone.

QR codes on an Android phone

On a Pixel, open the Camera app, point it at the whole code without taking a photo, and tap the link that appears. If nothing appears, Google says to check that Camera scan suggestions is on under Settings and More settings in the camera. A Scan QR code button also sits in Quick Settings, and you can add it by swiping left in the panel or tapping the pencil.

Camera from Google has a QR mode as well as reading codes in the default photo mode. Google says it cannot scan in portrait or video mode, and that the feature is on selected devices only. On a Samsung Galaxy, Samsung's page gives three routes. The first is the Scan QR code icon in the quick settings panel after a two-finger swipe down. The second is the Camera app in PHOTO mode with the Scan QR codes switch turned on in the camera settings. The third is Bixby Vision. Circle to Search reads a code on select devices by pressing and holding the home button and circling the code.

Retail barcodes: use Google Lens in Chrome

The one official page that names barcodes in a scanning route is Google's help for Lens in Chrome, and it works on both platforms. On Android, open Chrome, open a new tab and tap Google Lens in the search bar. Put the barcode in the box, tap the shutter, then swipe up for the results. On iPhone, open Chrome, tap Google Lens in the search bar and put the QR code or barcode in the highlighted box. When it reads, a code appears in the address bar and a link pops up.

Apple's release notes for iOS 27 name a Shortcuts action called Scan QR or Barcode, but Apple has no support page for it.

What a retail scan gives you

A UPC or EAN holds only a number, a 12 or 13 digit GTIN. GS1's specification describes the older style of mobile app as reading that number and then looking it up in a web resource. The newer style reads a web address from a QR code or Data Matrix. So the product name, the price and the reviews come from the app's database, not from the bars. If you want to know who owns a number, GS1 runs a free lookup called Verified by GS1, described in what a GS1 barcode is.

A QR code is different. It can carry a web address, so an unknown code deserves the care you would give an unknown link. A retail barcode cannot open anything, because it is only digits.

Checking a barcode you printed

A phone is a quick way to read a test print back and compare the digits with the number you typed. Google says Lens in Chrome reads retail barcodes, so it should read a UPC or EAN-13 printed from these tools. QR codes from the generator for the other formats are the kind those camera pages describe. Apple's and Google's camera pages describe QR codes only, so check a PDF417 print with the scanner that will use it.

Treat a phone read as a first check only. A phone camera and a checkout scanner are different readers, and a phone read says nothing about print quality grades. Print the sample at 100 percent scale and keep the clear space. Scan it with the equipment your customer or warehouse uses before you print a batch.

What a 2D barcode is explains why QR codes are the ones phones read best. Where the UPC code is on a product shows where to point the camera. The question that follows a scan at the door is whether the stripes can set off the gate. It is answered in does a barcode set off store alarms.