QR Codes for Android Market Apps

I'm really excited about QR codes at the moment! Data entry and searching are great on new smartphones but still a little slow and tedious compared to the instant gratification we are used to on a pc. So the ability to just aim my phone camera at a code and receive information or navigate to a url is very cool.

When I was checking out my application listing on AndroLib I realised that these guys are using QR codes to create Android Intents. There are just so many possibilities with this.

The QR code listed for my app Bites on AndroLib looks like this:

When I decoded this with the online zxing decoder I found it contained the string market://search?q=pname:caldwell.ben.bites which when scanned with my phone opens the market with a search result for Bites. What an easy way to get data and intents between a pc and a phone!

There are just so many creative and subversive ways to use QR codes, they have even found their way into street art.

Well done to the ZXing guys too, I use their barcode scanner app from the Android market for barcode scanning and I have to say they have done a fantastic job!