You may not know that iPhone can also scan QR codes like this

If I tell you that the iPhone's native camera can scan QR codes, you will definitely look at me as if I were a Martian. As for the fact that scanning a QR code can directly join Wi-Fi and that Safari can also parse QR codes, perhaps only readers who are very concerned about iOS skills know about these.

After iOS 11, iOS devices have made a qualitative leap in their support for QR codes. The system camera can directly scan QR codes and perform operations such as opening web pages and jumping to applications, which greatly expands the application scenarios of the camera. This article will help you sort out the skills of iOS 11 regarding QR codes. Readers who have already heard of them can also learn more about their principles in this article and be able to make QR codes with special functions by themselves.

Open a web page or app

This should be a well-known trick. If the content in the QR code is a URL, you can open it directly on the web page or the corresponding application (supporting URL Schemes). However, it is best to develop the habit of pressing the notification to check the URL and check if there is any suspicious word in the link. Even so, it is best not to scan the QR code of unknown origin.

Make a call, send a text or email

If the camera detects a phone number or email address, you can send a message directly to the other party, or save the number and email address in the address book. This is in line with the ridicule of 3D Touch, "If you press it casually, there will always be various surprises."

Add a contact

If the QR code contains information in vCard or MeCard format, the iPhone will provide an "Add to Contacts" suggestion after scanning. When making paper business cards, you can consider adding such a QR code, so that the other party can quickly save your contact information even if they don't have a dedicated brand scanning tool installed (if their phone supports scanning vCard format QR codes).

Show location information

We often see a simplified map on flyers and posters showing the location of the organizer, which is thoughtful, but we can go a step further and store the location information in a QR code, which can be scanned to display the location and navigate in the iPhone's built-in map application.

To do this, simply hide the latitude and longitude in the QR code in the format of geo latitude and longitude. Unfortunately, iOS is not smart enough to display the place name when scanning the code, so I have to open the map to know the specific location.

Add calendar information

Add Schedule

When the information in the QR code is in iCalendar format, you can add schedule information by scanning it. However, calendar subscription is still relatively mature now, and scanning the code is generally not used for offline adding.

Join Wi-Fi

The most amazing function is probably the QR code to add Wi-Fi. Just scan the camera and it will automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network. Put a QR code with Wi-Fi information (the specific format will be described below) on the wall, and next time your friends come to your house, they don't have to ask "what is the password".

The function of automatically joining Wi-Fi by scanning a QR code may seem like a magical trick, but it is actually just Apple's belated support for the encoding format invented by zxing. Android devices have long been able to connect to Wi-Fi by scanning a QR code, which uses the format of WIFI:T:WPA;S:Wi-Fi name;P:password;; to store Wi-Fi related information, eliminating the trouble of manually entering passwords.

In fact, the other tips in this article are not exclusive to iPhone. You might as well use your own phone to scan them, maybe they also support some special operations.

Safari can also parse QR codes

In addition to the system camera, Safari can also parse QR codes on web pages. Just press the image again to pop up the options menu.

It is said that some people like to hide "resource links" in QR codes and share them. Next time you encounter one, you can parse it directly in Safari without having to ask for help from WeChat (I haven't tried it).

summary

Every time a new version of iOS is announced or released, everyone eagerly waits for the release of articles on "XX features of iOS XX", hoping to find a few new features from dozens of features that have long been heard of. In fact, in addition to the press conference and media reports, you should also watch the several presentations for developers after the conference, so as not to keep chewing on things that others have digested thoroughly.

This article about how to use QR codes in iOS 11 can only be called "old news", but I guess many people can learn something new from it.