What a QR code is
Scan a QR code with your phone camera and know what happens next.
Those black and white squares on menus, parking signs, and packages are not decoration. They are text, printed in a shape a camera understands faster than a person does.
Almost always, the text is a web address. Your camera reads the squares, works out the address, and offers to open it. Nothing happens until you tap that offer.
On any phone made in the last several years, you do not need a special app. Open the regular camera, point it at the code, and wait a second. A small banner appears at the top.
Because a code can point anywhere, treat it like a link from a stranger. A code on a restaurant table is fine. A sticker slapped over a parking meter is worth a second thought.
Key points
- A QR code is usually a web address in pattern form.
- Your regular camera reads it. No extra app needed.
- A banner appears showing where the code leads.
- Nothing opens until you tap the banner.
- Read the address first, especially on stickers.
What to remember
- The banner is the pause. You always get to read before you go.
- A code you did not expect deserves the same caution as a link you did not expect.
- Knowing the camera does it saves you from installing something you do not need.
Try this
Find a QR code on a package, a menu, or a flyer at home, point your camera at it, and read the address in the banner without tapping.
Practice: What a QR code is. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.