The mobile app for the social network has now been updated with a number of new options including quick response codes.
Facebook has just started to roll out a number of new features on its mobile app, which includes everything from personal QR codes that direct people to an individual’s profile, to the much discussed Nearby Feature option that alerts an individual when his or her friends are located close to where they are.
While it looks as though the actual Nearby Friends option may be rolling out gradually, the quick response codes are available.
For people who love to use Facebook and adore sharing their profiles with others, the mobile app now offers users the chance to generate their own personal QR codes that will let others access their profiles instantly. This process – which also includes a built-in barcode reader for others to use to scan the quick response code – is meant to make it much easier for people to add friends.
Users simply need to display their QR codes so that others can scan it and make a friend request.
Of course, the opposite is true, as well. The QRcode contains a link to the individual’s profile so that others will be able to be directed immediately to it instead of having to perform a search for the person, which takes a bit longer when using a touchscreen keyboard and the search function.
Though these barcodes had already been available for Facebook Pages, they are now available for the Profiles, too. It should be noted that this is limited to the mobile apps and is not yet available for either the standard or mobile website.
Users could choose to use a third party bardcode scanner, instead of the one in the Facebook apps, if they don’t want to download that application into their smartphone, but in that case, it will direct the individual to the Facebook URL within the browser, instead of opening up the individual profile in the app, which makes all of the various options available.
Scanning the QR codes using the Facebook reader redirects the user to the profile timeline and makes the “add as a friend” option directly available.
