I have made limited use of QR code by using apps provided by my two favorite airlines.

I was at a meeting recently where a printed agenda was passed out that had a QR code printed in black and white at the bottom of the page with an explanation that "You can sign up to receive text message announcements by scanning the QR code below."

I became interested. I went to the App Store and searched on QR code. 41 apps popped up on the screen. I was expecting a generally usable QR code app to show up, but was surprised to see what appears to be specialized QR codes for Graphics & Design, Utilities, Productivity, Business, Video & Developer Tools.

If I want to just read what was on the program, which one, if any, would I select? Are they all so specialized that I have to buy one of each if I want to become proficient in a wide variety of uses for QR code?

Most likely, the apps that popped up were for creating QR codes, not reading them. To read them, I use the free program Scan.

FWIW, the app you linked to is no longer free, and now requires an online account. A free alternative might be Bar-Code, although that doesn't compare prices like Scan does.

I have used the free QR Code Reader and Scanner for years and it has always worked well for straight QR codes.

Scanbot also reads QR codes as well as scanning (photographing) documents to PDF and there is an in-app purchase option to OCR scanned documents making it doubly useful.

Thanks to all of you. I think I'm getting the picture of it. Sorry to be so unschooled, but I'm grateful for you in this forum. I'll give it a try and report results. Best regards.

No need to be sorry. There are so many "features", apps, etc. that no one can keep up. I feel as if I am not trying if I don't learn something new every day. I have reached the point that like a too small Time Machine volume when something new comes in the front door, something else falls out through the back door.

Even now as I am beginning to feel comfortable with all the Mavericks features Yosemite and iOS 8 are staring us in the face with an entire new set of gee whiz features.

Thanks for the encouragement. It is much appreciated. It will take some time before I can mess with QR code again due to a heavy workload. Because I see an OS as a productivity, communication & social assistant, I nearly always wait for the .3 or .4 version of a new Mac OS, but I suckered as an early Mavericks adopter based upon reassurance from others that Mavericks was "different," but, as you know, I got burned. I knew on the first day I used it that I had made a mistake. I finally went back to Mountain Lion 10.8.5 and have stayed there because it is so stable and doesn't play tricks with me. Going back was hell, but, after getting the help of the local Apple Geniuses and being pushed up two additional levels in Apple's three tiered Genius service, I finally got it done. They had to get my permission to let them enter my system and work with me to clean out some Mavericks remnants and to reinstall Mountain Lion. Therefore, I'm waiting for reasonably mature versions of Yosemite and iOS 8 before moving up this time. I just don't have the time, patience and knowhow to "play" with alpha, beta, gamma & delta versions of a new OS. I see this forum as a source of assistance that doesn't have a hidden commercial interest driving it. Over the years, it also establishes an environment of friendship like a club of people whose looks and occupations are not usually known. I honestly consider it a privilege to be here. If my math is correct, this forum, in its present form, is 5 years old this month! Party hats anyone?

Where did you get those apps? I can't find either one on the App Store.

Hmm...I had no problem finding either one, simply by copying & pasting the apps' names into the search field in the iTunes store...

I did what you did, but the product name shows: Scan - QR Code and Barcode Reader. That's not a perfect match to what I pasted. Previously, I simply entered QR code in the App Store's search and it showed 49 different products many of which had similar names, but nothing exactly matching what I had copied. I was asking joemikeb to confirm whether or not the one you and I got was indeed the one he was recommending. I decided to ask because that particular item has just 4 five-star ratings and 11 one star ratings. They either love it or hate it. I don't want to be buying a pig in a poke and waste my time. If Joemikeb confirms that that is the one, I'll grab it.

For $1.99+tax, I bought "Scan - QR Code and Barcode Reader." I tried it on the only QR Code I have in the papers on my desk. It gave me a signup sheet from Google that required all of my personal information before I could read the translated content. Although I do have one gmail account, the rest of my email accounts are Comcast.

I have two questions: First, is this the QR Code app that you were guiding me to? Second, does Google control the world's QR Code app usage or are there other QR Code generators and readers that have different sponsorship or controllers? In other words, does Google control QR Codes like it controls YouTube? I feel a need to know the territory.

I decided I was being too cautious. I bought the one we both got from our searches. See my new question to joemikeb. Thanks for pushing me to get off my dime and try it.

The one I found was the free app referred to by joemikeb, QR Code Reader and Scanner.

I don't know what's going on. I did the same thing you did and got one that cost two bucks. You can see my setup. Are you on Mavericks? I'm still on Mountain Lion 10.8.5 and iOS 7.1.2 Would that make a difference?

The full title I get is: Scan - QR Code and Barcode Reader. The seller is QR CodeCity, LLC. It works really well, but I'm mystified why we're getting different results with the same input to the same location.

I don't know what to tell you.

As I said above, I copied and pasted QR Code Reader and Scanner into the iTunes Store search field, then hit Return. What I got was a results page titled "Showing results for 'QR Code Reader and Scanner,'" with a horizontally scrollable list of 32 iPhone apps. The first or leftmost app shown was, in fact, QR Code Reader and Scanner. The app you're referring to—Scan—did appear in the results: it was fourth on the list. (FWIW, the app's actual name appears to be just Scan; the "QR Code and Barcode Reader" is a descriptive phrase, perhaps added by the developer to improve the app's performance in search results. It certainly does make referring to it an unwieldy exercise.)

As for whether the difference between your and my experiences is attributable to the difference in operating systems, I can't say. I did run Mountain Lion for about a year, but, lacking an iOS device, never paid much attention to apps in the iTunes store.

I do the same thing, but I get a screen showing only two apps. The left hand app is: Scan - QR Code and Barcode Reader. Price $1.99 plus tax. version 1.0.2.
What's New in Version 1.0.2
- Adds ability to copy scanned text

I receive it through the iTunes Store to my iPhone 4S. When the app shows up on my iPhone, the label is "Scan" and nothing more. I believe we're getting the same item, but possibly a different version(?) I don't know. Anyway, it seems to work quite well.

Google doesn't have any say at all about QR or other barcodes; they're not involved.

The Scan app asks for your Gmail information so that it can link up to your Google wallet (if you have one) and automatically connect you to barcoded products in the Google Play store. But you don't have to enter it. I declined to enter my information and the app still works fine.

I also finally declined Google and the app seemed to work fine. It was just a jarring start for me: Open my very first QR code app and, boom, Google is in my face. Since then, I have purchased a QR code reader that works very well. Thanks for the followup.

alternaught: You are exactly right! If I not been so clueless about QR stuff and had understood your comment, I would have avoided the problem of wondering why I had to pay for a "free" app. I finally figured it out, but not until I had bothered a lot of good folks on this thread. Then, I reread your entry and slapped my forehead—(duh!).