Scanning distant QR codes is about to get easier

Scanning QR codes with your phone is pretty commonplace now, but every now and then, doing it is a massive pain. Thankfully, Google is working to make the process a little easier when QR codes are too far away.

A new feature Google is working on will automatically zoom in on QR codes if your phone detects they’re far away. Android expert Mishaal Rahman detailed the new feature in a series of tweets.

Google has updated ML Kit's Barcode Scanning API and the Code Scanner API with auto-zoom, enabling the camera to automatically zoom in to scan barcodes that are far away. The scanner will intelligently detect barcodes and zoom in so the user doesn't have to manually adjust zoom. pic.twitter.com/yZGjJsrgI9

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) August 3, 2023

To start, Rahman says Google updated its machine learning (ML) kit’s Barcode Scanning API as well as the Code Scanner API with the auto-zoom capability. In a video with the tweet (above), you can see the auto-zoom in action — when the phone detects a distant QR code, it zooms in automatically.

Because the feature is built into the two APIs, apps can leverage the capability just by implementing the API. In other words, third-party apps calling on either API should soon offer the auto-zoom feature.

GMS have the auto-zoom flag present from last month afaik. It was not enabled because it was in testing maybe. With release of this feature publicly, Google already enabled it on GMS beta for me. So expect it to roll out soon. Flag to force enable? Check https://t.co/MGeCDVz3iM pic.twitter.com/8qYjxLPRSp

— AssembleDebug (@AssembleDebug) August 4, 2023

Rahman also retweeted a tweet from user AssembleDebug showing how the feature works on a Pixel phone’s built-in QR scanner, though it’s not clear if it’s widely available yet.

Source: Mishaal Rahman (X) Via: Android Police