Google Camera, Lens Issue of Misreading QR Codes Fixed via Update: Report

Google Camera and Lens apps were misreading QR codes on Google Pixel, OnePlus smartphones.

By Satvik Khare | Updated: 25 January 2022 13:36 IST

Google Camera, Lens Issue of Misreading QR Codes Fixed via Update: Report

Google Camera, Lens QR code issue saw three bugs related to URLs

Highlights

Google Camera, Lens apps would sometimes change URLs
The bug changed, deleted characters from URLs
Google Camera, Lens bugs said to be fixed through updates

Google is reportedly updating its Camera and Lens apps to fix an issue where users were unable to scan QR codes properly. The report, which highlighted these issues, states that users of Google Pixel smartphones on Android 12 have been facing the issue along with users of some OnePlus smartphones. Many users have reported that the link embedded in the QR code misbehaves on Google Pixel smartphones. Furthermore, QR codes for Calendar also translate data incorrectly when scanned from Google Pixel smartphones.

As per a report by Heise (in German), Google Pixel smartphone users are facing issues while scanning QR codes. The issue is only faced on Pixel smartphones running Android 12. However, the report also mentions that some OnePlus smartphones running Android 11 and Android 12 are also facing QR codes issue. As per the report, the Google Camera and Lens apps on the aforementioned devices were not properly scanning QR codes.

The links embedded in the QR codes were reportedly facing three issues. First of the errors mentioned in the report is the inclusion of periods in a URL. It mentions that links such as https://www.fooco.at/hello was changed to https://www.foo.co.at/hello even if the link embedded in the QR code did not contain the period. Furthermore, certain links containing country codes like .au, .br, .hu, and more are also affected with this bug.

Another error mentioned in the report is the deletion of certain characters in the URL. For example, links ending with .cat were sometimes shortened to .ca and the report mentions it could happen to other domains as well.

Third error mentioned in the report is mixing up digits in the URL. If a link contains a digit like https://www6.rbc.com, the Camera app redirected users to https://www.6.rbc.com.

A report by 9to5Google mentions that Google has released the fix for the bugs. A server-wide update reportedly fixed the issues with Google Lens app, while an update for Google Camera was released on the Play store to patch the issues. The report also mentions that QR code related issues have not yet been completely resolved as Google Pixel smartphones have trouble translating data for Calendars. This issue pushed back dates as far as a month while also ignoring time zones in some cases. The issue is reportedly yet to be fixed.

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