QR & Barcode Scanner

Choose Upload or Camera Mode

Select Upload Image if you have an image file, screenshot, or downloaded graphic. Select Scan with Camera if you want to scan a physical label, printed ticket, or screen using your device webcam.

Provide Image or Start Camera

In upload mode, drop or browse your image file (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF). In camera mode, click Start Camera, grant the browser permission prompt, and hold the code inside the blue viewfinder reticle.

Review Decoded Result

The detected code format, timestamp, and decoded value appear immediately. Click Copy Value to copy to your clipboard, or click Open Link if the result is a verified web URL.

Upload mode is engineered for digital graphics and previously captured photos. When an image file is selected, ZapPebble mounts the image in an off-screen HTML5 canvas element, renders it over a solid white background to eliminate transparency issues, and runs multi-scale decoding passes.

• Best for: Screenshots from messaging apps, downloaded QR codes, scanned PDF graphics, saved photos, and digital shipping invoices.
• Supported formats: PNG, JPG/JPEG, WebP, and non-animated GIF.
• Multi-code support: If an image contains multiple codes, ZapPebble attempts to report all detected results simultaneously.

Camera mode turns your laptop webcam or smartphone rear camera into an interactive scanner. Camera access is never started automatically; you must explicitly click Start Camera and confirm your browser's permission prompt.

• Best for: Printed QR codes on posters, event badges, restaurant menus, retail product packaging, and barcodes on physical books or packages.
• Performance throttled: Video frames are analyzed at an optimized 180ms interval to maintain responsive UI and minimize battery and CPU consumption.
• Auto-stop on detection: Once a code is recognized, the camera stream stops immediately and releases hardware tracks, preserving device privacy and power.

2D QR Codes

QR (Quick Response) codes store data in two dimensions across a grid of dark and light squares called modules. Three prominent finder pattern squares in the corners allow scanners to establish orientation, skew angle, and size instantly.

• High data capacity: Can store complex strings like full URLs, multi-line contact cards, or cryptographic tokens.
• Reed-Solomon error correction: Built-in redundancy allows the code to remain readable even if up to 30% of the graphic is damaged or obscured.
• Omnidirectional: Can be scanned from any angle ($360^\circ$) without needing to align horizontally.

1D Linear Barcodes

Traditional barcodes (EAN, UPC, Code 128, Code 39) encode data in one dimension through varying widths of parallel bars and spaces. They function primarily as numerical or alphanumeric identifiers that map to records in external databases.

• Compact identifiers: Highly optimized for short numeric product codes (8 to 14 digits) or serial numbers.
• Checksum validation: Most 1D formats include a mandatory trailing check digit (such as modulo-10 or modulo-43) to prevent misreads.
• Directional alignment: The scanline must cut cleanly across all vertical bars and spaces simultaneously to decode.

The Open Link button appears only if the decoded text passes strict URL parsing and matches the http: or https: protocol scheme.

Execution schemes such as javascript:, data:, file:, and vbscript: are strictly rejected and treated as plain text to prevent script injection and unintended local file execution.

What it does: Verifies that the decoded string forms a syntactically valid web URL with a standard HTTP/HTTPS protocol, and isolates navigation to a new browser tab with rel="noopener noreferrer".

What it does not do: The scanner cannot check if the destination website is trustworthy, free of malware, or authentic. Always review the full domain name and URL path displayed in the text box before opening external links.