QR Codes are getting more popular by the day. The downside is, they are geared toward mobile devices. Instead of scanning your computer screen with your mobile device, use QRreader for Chrome to read the QR code in your browser instead.
There are so many uses for QR Codes; most companies are just starting to figure out the full potential of these 3d barcodes. They can be used for anything from sending you to a website to adding contact information to an address book to opening the SMS application on a phone and inputting a preformatted message.
Getting Started with QRreader
To start, you will need to install the Chrome extension. Here is a link to the QRreader extension download page.
If you are new to Chrome, all you need to do is click on “Add To Chrome”. You will see a popup like this. Click install and in a few seconds, you are ready to use the extension.
Once you have the Chrome extension added to your browser, you need to hunt around for a QR code online. Or you can try it out on this one. It is a link to the TechNorms homepage.
To use the extension all you will need to do is hover your mouse over the QR code and right-click. In the contextual menu, there will be an option to read the code. There are some instances where it will not read the code. The main reason I found was how the picture of the code was attached to the web page. The initial example I used later in this article didn’t work.
In case a QR Code isn’t being read as expected, try to open the QR Code image in a new tab and then ask the extension to decipher the QR code.
Why you should use a browser QR code scanner
There are many sites out there using QR codes to take you to different locations for different reasons. There are a lot of people adding QR codes to their Facebook pages. Here is one from a political parody page in Wisconsin. They are trying to recall the Governor there. The page is trying to get to show that a… err well, if you use the reader you can see for yourself.
As you can see by the customized QR code above, there are lots of variations and even branding methods being implemented. Having access to these in your browser will save you time and draining your mobile battery.
Conclusion
This is a great extension if you are on your computer more than your smartphone or if you see a QR code on a page. As the code generators get more advanced, there will be more and more information embedded into each code. You will see them all over the place before you know it.
Add the QRreader extension to your Chrome browser.
