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Barcode scanner is not working properly
In Progress
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sequelmageJan 3, 2024
The barcode scanner seems to be really finicky. When I try to use it, it takes 5+ attempts and even then it’s not always successful. It seems like it attempts to scan before the camera has come into focus so it’s not grabbing a correct or complete ISBN value so it just fails to find the book. In case this is device specific I am using an iPhone 12 running iOS 16.1.1
Comments
Reverted the recent changes as they weren't working well in general! Sorry everyone! Still working on it.
Can everyone force quit and give the scanner a try and see how it goes? (iOS repeatedly asking for permissions is still not fixed it seems.)
Nadia on Android it now is a lot more smooth. I used to have to open, then close, then open again before it focused, now it does it immediately.
Nadia No change for me at all (Android 14 | Samsung A54). The scanner doesn't focus properly. It's all blurry and too far away for the phone being held so close to the book.
Nadia It's still broken for me on Pixel 6a running Android 15. Most of the time it picks up what seems to be an arbitrary number. When scanning the same book, it comes up with a different number each time (and it's not a subset of the numbers associated with either of the barcodes on the back of the book).
Nadia Doesn't seem to be working at all now on iOS 18
Not working on my Google Pixel phone
On my galaxy s22 I have to hold it at an exact distance when I click the scan button otherwise it just never focuses enough to scan.
Seemingly broken with iOS 18.
Might not be the same bug, but I've noticed when on a book it has two bar codes, one of them for ISBN and the other for something else, it occassionally reads both or the non-ISBN, and it then searches for a number different than the ISBN display on the back of the book.
Although, I've noticed employees at Best Buy have to block one of the barcodes during returns with electronics, so maybe it's just a general issue with scanners. So maybe a way to isolate the bar codes (detect all in the frame), and then let the user select the correct barcode. Might be difficult to implement, though.
lostghostofthevoid Thank you for the note!
Nadia This has definitely happened for me, too, a few times, and covering the secondary barcode occasionally helps. But even covering the secondary barcode in good light, it will not focus or scan most of the time. I've even tried prefocusing the camera and then returning to the app, but it doesn't seem to help.
I would be happy to go to some extra effort to send debug data if there's any info that would be helpful. I know it's awful trying to debug transient issues in production!
sassmistress Thank you for this note!
I noticed when using it is the scanner doesn't give you enough time to position the barcode in the middle of the frame before snapping the picture and giving the result - sometimes this means it's missed part of the barcode or misread it. So not just about focusing but it's too quick to scan. I'm on an iPhone 15
Just to provide more information, on my Android 12 the barcode scanner has not been focusing at all for weeks. I haven't been able to scan anything except for one fluke I haven't been able to replicate.
It would be nice to have the possibility to switch the flashlight on, which is not possible right now on my iphone. I expect that the scanning works better with the light on.
tantealex So far, I've only seen the configuration to force the light to go on when scanning, which I'm not sure everyone will want?
I'm experiencing the same issue on Android 12 (tablet) and 13 (Motorola Edge 30 Ultra).
Out of all the barcodes I tried to scan, I think I only got one result, maybe two, but both wrong. No barcode was identified for all the other books.
I was wondering if the scan reader only recognises UK/US barcodes. I tried to scan books from Italy and a few more European countries, in other languages than English.
mikebond It recognises barcodes worldwide — we have people all over Europe successfully using the feature — but it does have an issue with some shapes/styles.
For some cameras/barcode-style combinations it seems to have a higher rate of false positives. I'll be addressing this in the coming months.
Nadia mine seems to be working not of the time now, there's the occasional time it stays blurry, but coming out of it and then selecting the scanner again seems to work
ttwyman Okay, good to know. I still want to make it so that it works first time all of the time!
I'm on Android 14 and I have the same issue! I've already tried deleting and reinstalling the app in case I was missing a newer version, but no luck so far
creosote Will be working on this soon!