Scanning a Published QR Code gives "Copy Text" Development QR code "Opens experience"

Universal AR
#1

Help

When using UNITY an uploaded build gives a QR code to test the experience. When this is scanned using an Android phone then the scanners says “Click here to open in a browser” the experience then opens which is the expected behaviour.

If we publish the same project then the result of scanning the provided QR code on Android gives the instruction “Copy Text”.

This is not great for a user journey as most users would not know to copy and paste the link into a browser.

Is this the expected behaviour of published experiences? If so why? As this works seamlessly for QR codes generated within the development cycle why is it different?

Would using the format or method of the generated QR codes from the development process not be better for end users?

Is there a solution? Have we setup something wrong?

#2

Hi @pm1,

Do you have an example of this flow in action?

Are you hosting the WebGL project with ZapWorks using the Zappar player? It should be a seamless user experience:

  1. User scans the QR code.
  2. Launches zappar.io web URL.
  3. User enables camera and gyro permissions.
  4. Unity WebGL build is loaded and run.

Sounds like the steps you are taking might be slightly different to what we recommend. Could you please let us know the steps you are taking to host this project?

George

#3

Hi George

Thats what I thought would happen but it does not. The scanned QR code gives this response when published

scanner

“Copy text”

The scan from the Project Development Upload portal says “Open web page”

scanner

The difference is the end point of the address. The development build link ends with a / the published one does not.

This is not a frictionless user experience unless they know to manually copy and paste the text into a browser.

This may be an Android version thing…but I suspect it needs correcting as the AR experiences will not be easily accessible as they should be

#4

Is there any advice on this as this a project breaking feature as a client does not want to copy and paste the link into their web browser?

#5

Hi @pm1,

The webxr.run URL is just a redirection the QR code takes to go to where the project is hosted.

I’ve not personally seen this ‘copy text’ and ‘go to website’ screen before. Could you please tell me how I can recreate this and get to these screens?

Could you please also send over the QR code so we can scan and test on multiple devices to see if it’s a specific issue with the project or the device you are using?

I’m sure we can get this experience launching seamlessly for you and your client :slight_smile:

George

#6

Hi George

thanks for picking this up. This was brought to my attention by the client who is also running an Android phone. As it worked fine from the development QR code I did not test the published. However when I scan this on my Android phone using the systems built in bar code scanner… drag down the control panel from the top of the mobiles screen to access:

E2VXzePwerprV%20(1)

He was right as I get this:

scanner

With any development build I get a QR code that links to open the web page and the experience runs.

Let me know if I can provide any other information.

If this is happening on different versions of Android it still needs addressing as it kind of ruins the seamless experience.

Experimenting at this site https://www.online-qrcode-generator.com/ with different formatted URLs seems to show that it is the .run that is not recognised as a web address. Changing it to .io or .com brings up the Open Web Page dialog.

Cheers
Pete

#7

Hi @pm1,

Thanks for the added information. Can you please let me know which specific device you are using?

I believe this user experience is specific to individual devices so isn’t an issue with our QR codes, experiences or platform.

Would it be possible to scan a different QR code (one that has nothing to do with AR or ZapWorks) and check if the same behaviour ensues?

I’ve been chatting to our QA team and they’ve explained it’s really rare to see this screen and on nearly all Android devices it’s a quick and seamless user experience.

George

#8

No worries George.

Thank you for looking into this.

Will try on a variety of devices. At the moment we know it doesn’t work as intended on 3 different Android phones.

However, are you guys not concerned about the fact that the current URL format webxr.run doesn’t work on all devices - whilst .com or .io seems to?

People with S10s are having this issue with other QR codes - perhaps related:

We use a mix of Nexus, Poco and Redmi for development and testing. Vanilla old Android, latest chipset in the Poco and average Joe with the Redmi.

I will find out the clients phone as well.

As it seems a recent thing perhaps is the version of Android that the phones are on? If its the URL .run thats not being recognised as a web address then as the new Android update hits more and more phones less people are going to be able to use your QR codes to launch AR experiences.

Its put us in a difficult position with this client as they now want us to use a different platform.

Cheers
Pete