How-To

How to Scan a Barcode on iPhone

By Adam Davidson

Updated March 6, 2024

Did you know that barcodes have been around for more than 70 years? We see them almost every day, to the point where we barely register them until we’re struggling to find one on the cereal packet that we’re trying to scan at the self-checkout.

Barcode readers have been around for decades, so your iPhone should be able to easily scan a barcode with all of the computational might it has under the hood, right? Well, it’s not as easy as you might think. Although you can scan a QR code using the Camera app on your iPhone, there’s no native way to scan barcodes. Thankfully, there’s an app for that. In fact, there’s a ton of them. Here’s how to scan a barcode on an iPhone.

How to Scan a Barcode on iPhone Using an App

To scan barcodes on your iPhone, you’ll need to install a third-party app, as there’s currently no native way to scan barcodes on iPhones. There are many barcode-scanning apps to choose from, some of which require in-app purchases to make multiple scans or to add other features. Some are completely free to use, however. In this example, we’ll be using the Barcode Scanner – Price Finder app, which is completely free to use.

Scanning a Barcode on iPhone Using Barcode Scanner – Price Finder

1. Download and install the Barcode Scanner – Price Finder app on your iPhone.
2. Launch the app.
3. Click the New Scan button.
   
4. Grant the request for permission to use your iPhone’s camera.
   
5. Point the camera at the barcode you want to scan, keeping it within the window in the center of the screen.
   
6. Once the barcode is recognized, you’ll see information about the barcode that you’ve scanned.
   
7. Return to the main screen to see a list of all the barcodes that you’ve scanned.
8. To remove a barcode from your history, tap the Trash icon.
   
9. To scan another barcode, tap the New Scan button.
   

How to Scan a Barcode for Nutritional and Health Information

As well as barcodes that can provide information about products and their prices, there are also some useful apps that can use barcodes to provide important nutritional information about food products. This allows you to see how healthy, or unhealthy, a product is when you’re shopping. You may be amazed to discover some of the potentially harmful additives that are in supposedly healthy food products.

Several apps offer this ability; in this example, we’ll be using the Yuka app, which is free to use but offers in-app purchases for additional features.

To Scan a Barcode Using the Yuka App

1. Download and install the Yuka app on your iPhone.
2. Open the app and grant permission to use your iPhone camera when requested.
3. To scan a food item, tap the Scan button at the bottom of the screen.
   
4. Point your camera at the barcode, lining it up so it fits within the white rectangle.
   
5. You’ll see a summary of the item at the bottom of the screen, including a score out of 100.
   
6. Tap the summary to see more information about the ingredients of the product.
   
7. You can tap each section, such as Sugar, Salt, or Additives, to see more detail.
   
8. Tap the History tab to see the history of the products you’ve scanned.
   
9. Tap the Recs tab to see recommendations for alternatives for scanned food products that have a low score.
   
10. You can also use the app to scan cosmetic products to find out if they contain harmful ingredients.

How to Scan a QR Code on iPhone

If you need to scan a QR code instead of a barcode, the good news is that you can do this directly from the Camera app on your iPhone, without needing to install any additional apps.

1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
2. Point your camera at the QR code you want to scan.
3. When it’s recognized, you’ll see a yellow link appear in the Camera app.
   
4. Tap the link to be taken to the web page stored within the QR code.

Do More With Your iPhone

It’s not immediately obvious how to scan a barcode on an iPhone. That’s because there’s no native way to do it, unlike with QR codes. However, by installing a third-party app, you can scan barcodes to find useful information such as the best prices for the product you’re scanning, or even to learn how healthy or unhealthy a food product is.

Your iPhone is a powerful tool, and you may be surprised at some of the things that it’s capable of. One really useful feature that you may be unaware of is the ability to fix red eye on iPhone. If you’ve taken a photo using the flash, the pupils of your subjects may have a spooky red glare, which ruins an otherwise perfect snap.

Using the red eye tool, you can quickly remove red eye from the images. If the photo wasn’t taken with flash, but still has red eye (such as a photo someone else has sent you) you can take a screenshot of the image, and you’ll then be able to use the red eye correction tool.