Can I scan a QR code without an app?

08 Apr.,2024

 

How Do I Scan a QR Code Inside My Phone Without Using Another Phone?

Summary: This article will help you out with how to scan a QR code inside my phone without using another phone. pro tips on iPhone, Android, Google Lens, and third-party apps will make it easy

Imagine the situation where your friend sends you a QR code picture containing data when you are alone at home. How do I scan a QR code inside my phone without using another phone? That is a hard question. Never mind, with expert tips, you will deal with it easily and quickly.

In this article, I will introduce you to simple ways on how to scan a QR code inside phone without using another phone on iPhone, Android, Google Lens, and free apps. This easiest way in 4 steps to scan QR code effortlessly. Let’s explore!

How to Scan QR Code on iPhone?

Use Live Text with your iPhone camera on APPLE

Live Text is a new function with iPhone camera. Camera can copy and share text, open websites, compose emails, and make phone calls from text that appears within the camera frame.

If you are using an iPhone in iOS 15 or iOS 16, I think the QR code question can be dealt with easily.

According to APPLE the latest new function in ios15 and ios16, Live Text will walk you through how to scan a QR code on your screen effortlessly. In this way, you can scan QR code without app.

Let me introduce how to scan QR code on iPhone step by step.

  1. Open your iPhone gallery, and find out the QR code picture.
  2. Long-press the QR code for a while.
  3. The QR code is recognized by the iPhone and comes out with some function buttons.
  4. If the QR code is a URL, just press “open in Safari”. If you need to open it in other apps, press “share…” to choose app to open it.

That is so easy for “how to scan qt code on iPhone”, open your iPhone and try it now!

How to Scan a QR Code on Android?

If you are using Android phone, don’t worry. There are some brands of Android phone already updated the camera function to scan QR codes easily. This is similar to Apple Live Text function, and you can have a try.

Follow my steps, I will tell you how to scan QR code on Android right now.

  1. Open the gallery and find out the QR code you want to scan
  2. Long-press or press the QR code, wait for seconds
  3. It depends on different brands of Android phones, the scan functions are quite different.

If it works, the phone will scan QR code easily. If it doesn't work, don’t worry. There are more methods on how to scan QR codes on the screen. Keep reading!

How to Scan a QR Code Using Google Lens?

Google Lens is a powerful technology app designed by Google, it combines artificial intelligence machines to recognize images and analyze visual content in photos or images.

You can use Google Lens to scan your QR code or upload your gallery photo, which provides you with information about the image. And it can easily get you through how to scan a QR code on your screen.

Let me tell you how to scan a QR code using Google Lens.

  1. Open the Google app.
  2. Click the camera icon on the right of the search bar.
  3. Find out the QR code picture you want to scan and click it.
  4. Google Lens will automatically recognize the QR code and give you the data in it.

Free Apps You Can Use to Scan QR Code on Screen

In addition to those methods on “how to scan QR code with smartphone”, there are more free apps for you to scan QR codes on screen.

These QR code scanners from image are easy for you to operate and download for free. You can handle it easily by scanning a QR code on your screen.

Recommend apps:

  • NeoReader QR & Barcode Scanner
  • QuickMark Barcode Scanner
  • Kaspersky’s QR Code Reader and Scanner
  • QR Code Scanner by Scan

These apps will help you scan your QR code easily for free in seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a QR Code?

QR codes, also known as Quick Response codes, are two-dimensional barcodes that were invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave.

The QR code is composed of a grid of squares or pixels that stores data for machines to read. QR codes are widely used in advertisements, product packaging, business cards, websites, and mobile applications.

How to Scan a QR Code from a Picture?

Open your photo gallary, long-press the QR code picture, and then will come out some function buttons, choose “Copy” to look through form web or “Share” to apps to read the data of the QR code.

How to Scan a QR Code from Screenshot?

It is easy to scan a QR code from screenshot. First, open your gallary, long-press the QR code picture, choose “Copy” to look through form web or “Share” to apps to read the data of the QR code, and then you will find out the data revealed.

How to Scan a QR Code on the Computer?

There are many QR code reader on Google search, you can open google.com to search for QR code reader, and then upload the QR code you want to scan. Web QR, Scan QR, QR stuff are available for you to scan QR code.

What to Do If Phone Camera Won't Scan QR Codes?

If the phone camera doesn’t work on scanning QR code, just try to restart your phone to try again. Or go to Appstore or Google Go to download some free apps to scan QR codes.

I recommend these apps to you,

  • NeoReader QR & Barcode Scanner
  • QuickMark Barcode Scanner
  • Kaspersky’s QR Code Reader and Scanner
  • QR Code Scanner by Scan

Can Scanning a QR Code Transfer Virus to My Smartphone?

No, QR code cannot contain viruses. However, there is some possibility that QR code contains malicious websites or content.

Conclusion

In this article, I introduce 4 methods to walk you through how to scan a QR code inside phone without using another phone. And I believe 4 ways of iPhone, Android, Google Lens, and free apps will help you out of how to scan a QR code on your screen. Thanks for reading.

What are QR Codes and why do you need to scan them?

QR Codes were initially developed to expand on the technology of Barcodes. QR Codes have better functionality because they can be scanned both horizontally and vertically, which comes from their square shape. Before smartphones existed, QR Codes were read with scanners for inventory management. Nowadays, the process is much more advanced because of smartphones. The process of scanning QR Codes enables you to read the information connected to them. This can be done either with a smartphone app or directly with your smartphone camera (for some newer models).

Which smartphones use Android?

Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems, so there are many smartphones that use Android to function. Some of the newer and popular smartphones that use Android are:

...And many more.

If you're unsure whether your smartphone uses Android, you can check it by going to “Settings“ and selecting “About Phone“, or you can ask your smartphone manufacturer.

How to check if your Android phone camera automatically scans QR Codes

If your Android phone is not listed above, not to worry. You can also try to scan QR Codes without an app. To test if your camera is equipped to do this, use the following steps:

  1. Open your Camera app and point it steadily for 2-3 seconds towards the QR Code you want to scan.
  2. Whenever scanning is enabled, a notification will appear.
  3. If nothing happens, you may have to go to your Settings app and enable QR Code scanning.
  4. If QR Codes isn’t an option in your settings, your device unfortunately can’t scan QR Codes natively. But don’t worry, this only means you’ll have to download a third-party QR Code reader app (see our recommendations below).

Alternatively, you can follow this guide for how to check your version of Android.

“Now on Tap” with Android 6.0 now scans QR Codes

If your Android phone uses Android 6.0 Marshmallow, there is a feature called “Now on Tap” that directly reads QR Codes. You can follow these steps to use “Now on Tap” to read QR Codes:

  • Install the Google App and open it.
  • Opt in to enable now.
  • Navigate to “Settings” and select “Screen search”.
  • Enable the topmost toggle (“Asks Google to show you info related to what’s on your home screen when you hold the Home button or search by voice”).
  • Hold down the Home button from your Android smartphone to start “Now on Tap” so that you can scan QR with your camera.

If you prefer not to use “Now on Tap”, you can also install a third-party QR Code scanning app ( see our app recommendations below).

Android 7 and below (except Android 6.0)

These versions of Android (except Android 6.0) can’t scan QR Codes without a third-party app.
Please see the below section for some of our app recommendations.

Scanning QR Codes with Android 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0

If your smartphone uses Android version 8.0 or higher, it’s a good bet that it can scan QR Codes with an app. Here are three options you can use to do so:

Google Screen Search

To scan a QR Code with Google Screen Search, you don’t need an app. You can use the following steps to scan a QR Code:

  1. Point your camera at the QR Code.
  2. Hold down the “Home” button and swipe up to reveal the options at the bottom.
  3. Select “What’s on my screen?”
  4. The short URL connected to the QR Code’s information will then appear.

Google Lens in the Assistant

This is a super-easy way to scan QR Codes without an app. To use Google Lens in the Assistant to scan a QR Code, here are the steps:

  1. Hold down the “Home” button to bring up the Assistant.
  2. Depending on your version of Assistant, the Lens button may automatically appear. If not, click on the row of dots at the bottom, and then the Lens button will appear on the left-hand side.
  3. If you haven’t used Lens before, you’ll need to enable it to use your camera. Once that’s finished or if you’ve already set this up, direct your camera at the QR Code and it will scan it.

The Google Lens app

You can also access Google Lens via the Google Lens App. In order to scan a QR Code with the Google Lens App, download it from the Google Play Store and follow the same directions as above beginning with point 2.

Important note: For Android versions 8.0 or higher, your phone may include an update that allows you to scan QR Codes directly with your camera without having to use the above functions. The following section explains how to check if your smartphone has this capability automatically within the camera.

How to scan QR Codes with

Samsung Galaxy

There are a few different methods you can use to scan QR Codes with a Samsung phone. Please note that there can be variations among versions of Galaxy and your OS version.

Bixby Vision

Can I scan a QR code without an app?

How to Scan QR Codes with Android