Getting Your Application a QR Code

Even if you have never used a QR (quick response) code before, you have probably at least seen one. They look like what you see in Figure 10-7.

Figure 10-7. You can go to the Android Market and download a QR code reader to scan this QR code. This QR Code will open up a URL for a web site that is worth visiting from time to time.

Hopefully, you have found a free application on the Android Market that will allow you to scan the QR code that you see here. You will find that it is a link to the URL for www.apress.com/. My Droid X phone allows me to easily share about Apress’ web site via e-mail or SMS.

A QR code is a matrix bar code that is readable on QR readers, smartphones, and even webcams. The reason they are so popular is that they make it very simple for the user to gain information by scanning. There are many bar code scanner applications that are connected to the Android device’s camera, and scanning these QR codes with one of these programs can open up access to a web site, and some of them will take the user straight to the Android market so the application can be downloaded in seconds.

Here’s how you can get your own QR code for your application:

1. Go to the official Android Market web site at https://market.android.com/.
2. Use the search engine to find your application (see Figure 10-8).
   

   Figure 10-8. An Android Market entry for Barcode Scanner. I highly recommend this application for scanning QR codes.

3. Copy the URL for your application on the Android Market.
4. Go to the QR code generator at www.qrstuff.com/ (see Figure 10-9).
   

   Figure 10-9. The QR Stuff web site; just one of many places to go for getting a QR code

5. On the QR Stuff page, select Website URL for the data type.
6. Paste the URL for your application in the Content section of the Android Market web site.
7. Select a foreground color.
8. Click Generate.
9. You will then see an image like the one in Figure 10-10.
   

   Figure 10-10. When you have your QR code, it should appear on the far right.

10. You can then click “Download this image” to designate a place to store your QR code.
11. You can print out the code, send by e-mail, and choose from other options for the output type on the QR Stuff site.

Now you have a QR code that will come in handy for all kinds of occasions. For example, if you have a flier campaign, you can put the QR code on the corner. You can even make the fliers before the application is officially on the Android Market, and put a sticker with the QR code on them later.

This QR code is for anyone who has a bar code scanner on their Android-powered smartphone (or any other device for that matter). I have often seen QR codes and have scanned them just out of curiosity. Often, I have downloaded applications based on this discovery. When you can read QR codes, it’s like you are living in a new sort of secret world.

You will also notice that in addition to making a QR code, the Kaywa QR code also makes a permalink that you can put in your web site’s HTML code. All that is required is a quick copy-and-paste.

Yes, QR codes are a great gift to marketing. I once saw them being used on a roving billboard, and I thought it was a waste. If you are not familiar with roving billboards, they are these billboards on trucks that do nothing but drive around big cities, just so their sponsors can visually spread the word about their message. You can see a lot of them in downtown Las Vegas.

I remember being in Los Angeles and I saw a roving billboard for an application, and it had a QR code on it. I could not figure out why someone would put a QR code on a roving billboard. By the time I could whip out my phone and open the bar code–scanning app, the billboard had driven away. Too bad I can’t remember the name of the application. That is a marketing failure! If it were on a stable billboard, that would be better; however, QR codes only work if you can focus on them with your bar code reader.