This fall, iPhone users are going to be able to use their phone cameras to scan more easily.
Apple’s iOS 17 will be released this fall, and with it will come a feature that will make it easier for iPhone users to scan QR codes.
The change has to do with a small but notable tweak to the upcoming version of Apple’s operating system.
The iPhone Camera app’s support for scanning QR codes isn’t anything new. It was first launched with its iOS 11, several years ago. At that time, the URL generated by scanning the barcode would appear in the same way as a push notification at the top of the phone’s screen.
Though this worked, it was a clunky strategy that wasn’t seamless enough for many users, who found it confusing. The next big change in this capability arrived with the iOS 13 release, which changed the way the barcodes were scanned. Instead of a message similar to a push notification, scanning a barcode showed the user a link, which appeared as a yellow button inside the camera viewfinder.
Unfortunately, this new method of scanning QR codes also came with a new problem.
The iOS version of the barcode scanner would cause the yellow link button to move around the viewfinder as long as the camera lens was in motion. To tap the button, the phone would need to be held very still.
Further changes to this experience are to be released with iOS 17 this fall. The change is small and subtle, but it is likely to be quite welcome by users who are still scanning barcodes with their iPhones.
Scanning a QR code will now create a link button at the bottom of the Camera interface. This way, even if the camera lens isn’t still, users won’t have to try to chase the moving button around the viewfinder. Users can simply tap the button’s fixed location, which can be found directly above the shutter button.
Since scanning qr codes is still more popular now than it was before the pandemic, this small but significant change to the feature will likely be helpful to people who still find themselves using their iPhone this way now and again.
