Tips for scanning barcodes with a phone
- Hold the phone parallel to the barcode with the bars running vertically across the frame.
- Fill about two-thirds of the width with the barcode, including a little blank space at each end.
- Avoid glare on shiny packaging by tilting slightly.
- Small barcodes need good light and focus; phone cameras struggle with very narrow bars.
Understanding the result
Product barcodes are shown the way they're printed: 13 digits for EAN-13, 12 for UPC-A and 8 for UPC-E. For UPC codes, the 13-digit GTIN form that many systems use is shown too. An EAN-13 that starts with 0 is the same number as a UPC-A.
ScanHatch shows the barcode's number. It doesn't look up product names or prices, so no scan data leaves your device.
Supported formats
Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Codabar, ITF / ITF-14, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, GS1 DataBar, Data Matrix, PDF417, Aztec.
Not supported: MSI, Pharmacode and postal barcodes. QR codes are read by the QR scanner.