How to test QR code online?

In today’s time to ensure a seamless sharing of information, often businesses require their Web and Mobile applications to have QR codes so that their users can access them just by scanning a small QR code. When scanned, This QR code gives various data based on the business requirement, reducing the application’s visible page size.

Its use cases include access to a restaurant’s extensive menu for a user to order food from, adding locations to offices, shops, institutions, or any other place for directions, transferring money to accounts, or as an access control system to allow entry in restricted entry spaces.

What is QR code?

A QR code (quick response code) is a type of two-dimensional (2D) bar code that is used to provide easy access to online information through the digital camera on a smartphone or tablet. It looks like a square with black and white pixels, making a pattern, as seen in the image.

QR codes can store information apart from alphanumeric data, such as URLs, images, videos, and contact cards. A smartphone camera and a QR code scanner app are needed to read the QR Code. Most modern smartphones come with an in-built scanner or camera that can scan the QR code.

Benefits of using QR code

QR is used often in our day-to-day lives, from the UPI payment scanners to the ticket in the metro, the Read More blocks on the products, and many more places, where the information has to be presented concisely. Here are some advantages of using QR Codes:

• QR Codes require a mobile camera to be scanned and do not require any particular device to interpret the message.
• They are versatile; they can encode almost all types of data, e.g., numeric, alphabet, special, and binary.
• They can store a good amount of information. Commonly, they can store up to 7089 digits or 4296 characters.
• They are usually very small in size. They require very little space on banners, products, or any other place they are used on. 
• They help the user in saving data quickly into their smartphones.

How to perform a QR code test?

As every web and mobile app requires extensive testing, applications having QR codes will also require rigorous testing to check if they work expectedly. Testing QR code functionality requires a real device with a camera and manually capturing the image of the code. But this limits the testing coverage, as the testing shall be done only on a limited mobile device since scanning code requires real devices with a camera.

Now coming to real devices on the cloud, since the image/QR code capture of the user’s app won’t be possible. Hence the required testing cannot be done and needs some special software.

BrowserStack App Live provides a box feature of “Camera image injection” where this limitation can be overcome and QR code scanning functionality can be tested on multiple real cloud devices as it injects the image before capturing it and once the image is captured, it is replaced by the injected Image, eradicating the need of holding a real device camera and scanning the image.

Testing QR code online using camera image injection: Example

Take the example of a QR code scanner app in the image below, which captures the image of the QR code and converts it in the text linked to it. For testing such an instance, open the app Live Set the image injection capability, select the device and the session is started. After the session starts, upload the image using camera image injection and start using the app.

Step 1 – For testing the QR code scanning in the application, upload the .ipa, .apk, .or aab file on App Live as seen below

Step 2 – the image injection capability must be enabled after uploading the App. To enable the same, click the settings icon next to the app.

Want to know how you can upload your Mobile app? Here are guides for your quick reference:
– How to install .ipa test file on iPhone
– How to Run APK Online in a Browser
– How to test .aab file on Android device

Step 3 – Image injection can be enabled by toggling the button next to it and selecting the device the test needs to run.

Step 4 – After selecting the device, the session will start with the app opening and uploading to the device chosen. Inject the image that needs to be captured using the image injection tool in the toolbar and upload the image by clicking the “Upload new asset” button.

Step 5 – When the image is uploaded successfully, click the button to capture the QR code.

Step 6 – The device’s camera will be launched and a black screen will be shown, click on the camera shutter button to capture the image. Once the image is captured, it will be replaced by the previously injected image in the result section as shown below.

Conclusion

• Using BrowserStack App Live’s camera image injection feature, QR code functionality on any mobile app can be tested by simply reading the code and injecting it into the camera.
• This industry-leading feature allows the QAs to test on a fleet of different real devices without buying them using its cloud infrastructure, giving accurate test results.
• Access the latest Android and iPhone flagship phones and legacy devices that will assist your QA team in covering a wider audience.

Test on Real Devices