Explain scantron menus to me like I'm a dumb second grader who got left back

[Anonymous]

I went to a restaurant today to pick up lunch and asked if I could see a menu. The guy handed me a thing with no words and a ... not a barcode but a scan thingy on it. I know you're supposed to somehow use your iphone to see the menu based on that picture but ... how? Like what do you click on? And how does everyone else magically know how to do this? Was a memo sent out that I missed?

[Anonymous]

The scan thingy is called a QR code. I don't have an iPhone so I don't know if it would work the same, but on my Android, I open up the Camera app as if to take a pic of the QR code and a link pops up. Once I click on the link, it takes me to the menu.

[Anonymous]

It's magic, OP

Remember in the old days, if you wanted to go to a page on the internet, you had to type in http://www.webpage.com?

Now, with your phone, it just will happen magically. Open up your camera, hold the phone up to the code, and wait a second, and little magic fairies will create a link.

Touch the link with your fingers and the web page will just open up on your phone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPH8SOUnduM

[Anonymous]

This is a scantron. It's a paper students use to take multiple choice tests. You fill in the bubbles with a #2 pencil, and it can be graded quickly by feeding it through a machine.

[Anonymous]

I hate them, you can’t see the whole menu at once. Give me paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate them, you can’t see the whole menu at once. Give me paper.

This. And my kids can read a menu but don't have their phones in the restaurant l.

You may have to go into your camera settings to enable it (it's called a QR code) and then you should be able to just scan it with your camera and the link will pop up, you'll click on it, and it'll take you to the menu.

[Anonymous]

I took my mom to a restaurant with QR code menus. She refused to scan it with her phone because she read that those "QRs take you to the dark web"

[Anonymous]

To me, it is a PIA. Just give me the menu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a scantron. It's a paper students use to take multiple choice tests. You fill in the bubbles with a #2 pencil, and it can be graded quickly by feeding it through a machine.

Argh! They are writing outside the lines!!

[Anonymous]

QR codes have been around for at least 15 years. Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:QR codes have been around for at least 15 years. Seriously?

It's true, but pre-pandemic you could completely avoid them without much effort. I learned to use QR codes thanks to contactless menus at restaurants during COVID, so I am sympathetic to the OP.

OP, if you have an iPhone, just open the camera app and point camera at the QR code. You do not need to actually take a picture--the camera will detect the QR code and a pop up will appear with a link to the website. If you have an Android or another smart phone, you may need to download a third-party app and/or enable something in your settings. Google "How do I detect QR codes with [phone type]" and someone on the web will have made a guide.

[Anonymous]

I get what is great about QR menus (reduce waste, easy for restaurants to update and keep accurate, hygenic, etc) but I just don’t like them. I will do it if I have to but prefer paper. QR menus also aren’t very family friendly, my kids don’t all have phones (and the ones who do have screen time limits). I’d rather not start a family meal out hunkered over shared phones or passing one around.

OP as stated above, go as if to take a photo of the QR code and a link will popup that you can click which will open the menu on your phone. It is very easy. The ease of it is a plus.

[Anonymous]

On iPhone pull up the Scan app - if you can't find your scan app, type "Scan" in the search bar on your phone and click on the app.

Once it pops up, it will have a camera view and an outline of a square on the screen.

Point square around the QR code - the QR code is the square with lines/squiggles/dots. This QR code is a URL address (website address).

It will take you to the website where the menu is listed. On your phone it can be hard to read because your screen is small and you will have to zoom and move around the menu to read the items.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

I’d love a scantron drinks menu! Pick C.

[Anonymous]

I get what is great about QR menus (reduce waste, easy for restaurants to update and keep accurate, hygenic, etc) but I just don’t like them. I will do it if I have to but prefer paper. QR menus also aren’t very family friendly, my kids don’t all have phones (and the ones who do have screen time limits). I’d rather not start a family meal out hunkered over shared phones or passing one around.

I feel exactly the same. Of course I can use them, or lend my son my phone to read the menu, but I would just prefer not to.