QR codes are incredibly annoying to deal with, but for a lot of people, they’re essential. They can be found basically anywhere, and there have been loads of times where I have struggled on different devices to figure out how to scan a QR code quickly on my phone. Typically the stock camera app is where you’ll find a QR code scanner, but sometimes, I have to launch Google Lens manually and do it that way. Now, according to a report, Android 13 will make it easier than ever to scan them — and straight from your lock screen, no less.
Source: Android Police
A “trusted source” reached out to our friends over at Android Police, providing them with screenshots of how the new feature works. In the screenshots, there’s an option to “show QR scanner” on the lock screen, and a reference is also seen in the quick settings in the form of its own toggle. This would be a much more intuitive way of being able to scan QR codes than the current system and would make it a whole lot easier process in general. Android Police also recently learned of a new tap-to-transfer feature for media in Android 13.
QR codes are used for all kinds of things, and they’re even used in Android for sharing the likes of a Wi-Fi access code. Restaurants also make great use of them currently, and there are a ton of other uses too. Making them easier to interact with and to scan is only a benefit, especially given that it appears to be very much an optional feature to enable.
If you don’t find yourself ever using QR codes, then feel free to switch it off and remove the quick setting toggle. However, for those that do use them (such as myself), this might be one of the best quality of life improvements in Android 13 that we’ve seen so far. If Chrome OS can do it, why shouldn’t Android?
