I am trying to read a QR code in an app on my phone. When I turn on the rear facing camera the QR code doesn't show up. I only see myself. How do I get the QR code to show?

The following is from iPadOS 15.6, but will work on other recent iPadOS and iOS versions…

If you’re not running the current iOS 15.6, update your iPad or iPhone…

Load the QR code image into Photos app on your iPhone (save to photos or such, for whatever app contains the photo), and the QR code can then be scanned from the image stored in Photos app. Alternatively if you cannot save the QR code image to Photos, you can screen-shot the QR code to get it into Photos that way, but most QR codes are already provided as images, and can usually be saved directly into Photos from whatever app is displaying the image.

Recognized QR code formats will usually be processed within Photos app with a press-and-hold.

If a QR code for a Wi-Fi network is loaded into Photos (for instance), I can press and hold the QR code image in Photos, and then see the following display. Note the “join network” prompt in the upper right, indicating the QR code is being recognized and processed:

That QR Wi-Fi network code is from Wikipedia, and was pressed and then held and then screenshot from within Photos app.

And yes, QR codes for Wi-Fi networks are very useful for Wi-Fi guest networks, and iPhone, iPad, and Android can all scan and use these Wi-Fi QR codes directly.

Next example… If the QR code for a English-language Wikipedia URL is loaded into Photos and then pressed and held, the following display will be shown, including the controls in the upper right that are extracted from the QR code image:

Above QR image is also from Wikipedia, loaded and then held to show the control in the upper right, and screenshot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

The cameras take pictures of things outside the phone, not things on the screen of the phone. You can't use the iPhone's camera to scan a QR code that is on the screen of the phone itself. You might see if there are any apps in the app store that will allow you to upload a picture.

Also, it's the front-facing camera (also called the "selfie camera" that would show your face when you're looking at the screen of the phone. If you want to scan a QR code that you see on printed material, on a television or computer screen, you use the rear-facing camera.

If the app is seeking to scan a printed QR code outside the iPhone or iPad (such as a QR code on a printed page)—if this isn’t “How do I read a QR code residing in an app on my iPhone?” but rather “How do I read a QR code using an app on my iPhone?” —then switch the iPhone camera to the back (main) camera, or hold the QR code between you and the front (selfie) camera.

But the back (main) camera is easier to use when scanning an external QR code.

The 🔃 control switches which camera is used.

Or if you have an image containing the QR code in some content lt “residing in an app”, then load that image or a screenshot of the image into Photos app and view it full screen in Photos and press-and-hold, as described in my reply above.

PS: IdrisSeabright: built-in text extraction and text translation can also work in that same context within Photos and such.

MrHoffman wrote:

PS: IdrisSeabright: built-in text extraction and text translation can also work in that same context within Photos and such.

I've had luck with text extraction but, unfortunately, the translating I've needed to do involves languages apparently not yet available.

Great to know!