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You might soon not have as much trouble reading far away QR codes on your Android phone. Google is working on a new code scanner that automatically detects a QR code in the camera frame, zooms in, and reads it. The feature isn\u2019t quite making its way to devices just yet \u2014 but it\u2019s in the latest APIs<\/a> Google is making available to developers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Specifically, it’s Google\u2019s code scanner API that\u2019s been updated with the new ability. It works in Google\u2019s QR Code Scanner system app, but can also be implemented into other apps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If developers implement the code scanner API, users won\u2019t have to grant camera permissions \u2014 saving developers time by not having to build a custom experience. The API leverages Google\u2019s on-device machine learning to interpret QR codes, and it only outputs a Barcode object to the app to maintain privacy for users. (It\u2019s not clear what exactly is happening under the hood, but AI upscaling is a thing<\/a> for other kinds of media.) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n As pointed out<\/a> by Android expert Mishaal Rahman, the new auto-zoom function is available in the new bundled ML Kit Barcode Scanning API library version 17.2.0 that can be built into apps (as well as unbundled version 18.3.0, which Google Play Services can download). It\u2019s also included in version 16.1.0 of the code scanner API alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rahman wrote that it\u2019s possible the easy QR code scanning feature could make its way onto devices running Android 13 or newer, since their QR code scanner uses the same ML Kit Barcode Scanning library where this feature is being added. And it may already be rolling out via GMS, the proprietary parts of Android that Google licenses to select manufacturers, according to a screen recording from X (formerly Twitter) user AssembleDebug<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s not clear how effective the new feature will be on Android smartphones outfitted with sub-par cameras, of if it will make it to devices other than Google\u2019s own Pixels, if it broadly arrives at all. But the feature is kind of neat, and hopefully it shows up in developers\u2019 apps and widely-released devices soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n