Senior Tech Tip -What Are QR Codes and How Do You Use Them?

by Russ Alman, Communications Director

You see them everywhere: square “QR Codes” with all the dots in them. But what are they exactly and how do you use them?

The “QR” stands for “Quick Response.” The concept was invented by Japanese company called Denso Wave in 1994 as a way to make code scanning faster and more efficient than traditional bar codes. (You can read more on their website at wvsac.link/denso)

You’re certainly familiar with bar codes on retail products. Most product packaging includes a Universal Product Code (UPC), which represents a unique number to identify that product. They make it easier to stock and track products because manufacturers and stores can read the code instantly with a scanner to enter the number into inventory systems.

QR Codes are essentially bar codes on steroids. While a bar code is one dimensional and contains only 12 numbers, a QR Code is two dimensional and can represent over 4,000 alphanumeric characters — that’s enough to store almost this entire article! This makes QR Codes a versatile way of sharing information in print that can be read by digital devices.

QR Codes can be designed in a variety of different styles and colors and they can even include graphics in the center for branding purposes. And because they can be reproduced in any medium, it allows them to be used on just about anything — labels, business cards, print ads, or even television graphics, billboards or the sides of buildings.

The use of QR Codes has really taken off thanks to the advancement of smartphone technology. Modern smartphones have cameras that are able to view QR Codes as close by as a print document or as far away as a billboard across the street. This means you can transfer all that information contained in the QR Code in an instant into your smartphone and your device will figure out what to do with it based on the content.

Smartphones manufactured in the last few years can scan a QR Code directly in the Camera app. You may or may not need to tap on the QR Code. Once the app recognizes the code, it will display an option of how you can use it. In this case, tapping on the link opens it in the default web browser.

The most common public use of QR Codes is to share links to websites. Sharing a website address (URL) in print can be unwieldly and it’s easy to make mistakes when you type them, especially on a smartphone with those tiny virtual keyboards. But with a modern smartphone, you can simply point your camera at the code and once your phone recognizes it, you tap on the code and it opens the website.

QR Codes can also be used as virtual business cards to share contact information. When a modern smartphone recognizes that a QR Code contains this type of information, it will automatically open your address book and ask if you want to add the contact with all of the embedded phone numbers, email addresses and more. And they are frequently used in applications where simple barcodes cannot contain the information. For example, a QR Code can contain enough information to track medicine being used for a patient in a hospital and link it to the patient’s medical history.

​So how specifically do you use a QR Code? Earlier smartphones required you to download a QR Code reader app that could communicate with the phone’s camera. But if you have an iPhone or Android-based phone that’s less than 5 years old, the built-in camera app is able to recognize QR Codes. Simply open the camera app, point it at the QR Code, and as long as it’s big enough on the screen, the app should identify the QR Code. If the app doesn’t immediately find it, tap your finger on the QR Code and that will tell the app where look. Once the app identifies the QR Code, you should see a link pop up on your screen. Tap the link and it should open the website in your phone’s browser.

We have started including QR Codes in The Livewire. For example, we’ve included one on the front page that will send you to the World’s Best 2025 voting website (Please vote for our thrift shop as Best Thrift Store and the Senior Center as Best Nonprofit!). We have also included QR Codes on all of our Travel Program promotion pages. Try scanning one of them and you’ll be taken to a page on our website with full details on that trip.

One word of caution: If you see a QR Code that has been stuck on top something and seems like it doesn’t belong there, double-check that the website link matches the source. Like everything else online, scammers are looking for ways to exploit this technology and there have been instances where people have found QR Codes stuck on top of the originals to trick them into visiting a phishing website.