Posted Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 at 10:16 am by CommentsScan is a neat and functional QR code and barcode scanner for your mobile device. It’s incredibly fast and responsive, linking you to the codes content immediately. It’s very user-friendly and also lets you save all your scans. The app is intuitive, automatic and with these codes becoming more and more popular, Scan is a superb app to access them.
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Blazingly fast and responsive!
- Simple and effective UI!
- Saves to history and web with sync!
- Web service also allows for code creation and sharing!
Cons
- Would be great if creator was included in the app.
- Scan history on web doesn’t link to scanned links.
- Shopping links are U.S. based, no way of changing location.
Features:
Scan is the official app from the Scan Inc. company, who specialise in real-world solutions concerning interactive codes; such as QR codes, barcodes and NFC. This little app lets you quickly (and I mean damn fast) scan barcodes and QR codes. In addition to this, it’s very user friendly and, with web support, is actually a very canny and useful service.
OK, so you might already have Barcode Scanner or Google Goggles on your device, but while these are quite effective they contain a fair bit of clutter (especially Goggles) and, when you just want to check out the code in front of you, there’s a fair bit of fuss to navigate at first. Scan, however, immediately opens your viewer and starts looking for the code. And it’s fantastically fast. I wanted to try and take a screenshot of my attempts to scan a code, but it was so quick in reading the code and linking me to the message that this was quite a challenge. In the end, there is the slightly blurred snapshot I took immediately before the scan was taken.
So it’s fast, what else? Well, the scans you make are recorded in your scan history so, if you scan a heap of stuff you can track back to all those items. What is also very good is that all the scans can be saved to the scan.me web interface, so everything is there, on your computer/laptop or across any Android device you might be using. Which, when all is said and done, is pretty neat.
It’s pretty clear that the use of QR codes are on the rise, companies love to slap them here there and everywhere, and if you’re in any way geeky like me, it’s still pretty cool to pull out your device and scan something you find. Check out the video below for an introduction to the app but also a host of real-world applications.
Both myself and my fiancee love to use technology and, for Valentines Day I created and printed out a large QR code which contained the lyrics to our favourite song. I then pasted this into her card along side all the usual messages and declarations of love. 
I thought there might be one or two improvements that could be made, although I would have to say these are relatively minor as the app works perfectly well without them… when you’re scanning barcodes for shopping purposes the links are not localised. So, when I scanned a book it led me to Amazon.com, rather than Amazon.co.uk. Perhaps just a small thing, but other apps currently do this already. Also, when scans are saved and accessed via the website, you cannot link to them on your laptop or computer. Lastly, the app would rock even harder if it was able to include a QR creator as well as the scanner. These are genuinely small things but, as someone who loves using these kind of applications, they would be great to see in future updates.
- Scan – Scanning QR code view
- Scan – Item scanned, view product
- Scan – Scan history
- Scan – QR text code view
- Scan – Web link to product summary
- Scan – Create account
- Scan – Settings
- Scan – Web interface, with code creator
Usefulness:
Despite the fact that QR code scanning has been around for a quite a while now, it still feels like a new thing. However, more and more companies to individuals are using them to advertise or promote their product or message. If you look, there are lots of codes around us and these can contain anything from promotional offers and product savings to links to websites or other interactive features. Additionally, websites like to provide links to other places via codes: Google Play Store apps, Amazon pages, Ebay etc. Many contain contact information which can also be saved.
Scan is extremely useful for interacting and reading these codes, it’s blisteringly fast and stores your scanned items in your history. If you create an account, these can always be with you whether you are using your computer at home, tablet or phone. The ability to read these codes opens up a new world around you and I’m sure their popularity will only increase.
Ease of Use:
It couldn’t be any easier. Open the app, point it at a code and it links you to either the message it holds, contact, the picture or web link, etc. There is a history button which lets you view all your scanned items and also a settings button which takes you to a short menu of options such as account information and scanning settings such as sound and vibration.
Frequently Used:
I think this depends heavily on how much you’re out and about and notice these codes. But, once you get into the technology, it might be something you use several times a week. Like I have mentioned there are more and more of these QR codes showing up in all manner of places so look out for them!
Interface:
The interface is very simple yet elegant, looking both slick and professional. Compared to Barcode Scanner it looks far better and while Google Goggles is obviously very polished it can be quite cluttered with options and features. Scan just lets you get on with scanning, reading an interacting.
AndroidTapp.com Rating
Should you Download Scan? Scan is a great little app that lets you scan QR codes and barcodes. It’s blissfully simple to use and looks good. More and more individuals and companies are utilizing the QR code technology to link, share, advertise, promote or to provide offers to their audiences. I find QR codes a neat way to pass on messages but the number of uses are growing all the time. Definitely check the Scan app out, it’s free and is great to use.
0 comments:
Post a Comment