Visual Codes Puts Your QR Codes on Apple Watch

Call me hopelessly optimistic, but I think QR codes are going to come back with a vengeance. Sure, some products and services have continued to use the visual codes, but the pixellated “bar” code never really took off the way we thought. You had to have a third-party reader for them, but that’s no longer the case. With iOS 11, the Camera app is a fully-functional QR code reader, and that’s part of why Benjamin Mayo wrote Visual Codes. That app is now available on your wrist, putting QR codes on Apple Watch.

Displaying Your QR Codes on Apple Watch

With Visual Codes on your wrist, you can display your generated QR codes on Apple Watch. Your entire library is available, and the app will keep your Watch display lit while displaying a QR code. That way, you can even turn your wrist to show other people the code.

The app even works with Siri on Apple Watch. You can ask Siri to display your pinned QR code, and the personal assistant will dutifully obey. Visual Codes is a very good way to share everything from business cards to your Wi-Fi password. All you need to do is have your friends or acquaintances scan the code, and away they go.

How Visual Codes Works

When someone scans your code, what happens depends on you. If it’s a “Connect to Wi-FI” code, they’ll be taken into Settings to connect to your wireless hotspot. If it’s a business card, the iPhone scanning the code will open it in Contacts.

You can also set up codes to send an email, conduct a web search, go to a Maps location, call a phone number, or open a page in Safari.

Getting Visual Codes

If you like the idea of making your own QR codes, Visual Codes is available as a free download on the App Store. You can print the QR codes, too, but only after a small in-app purchase to unlock all features of the app.