[throwaway66666]

iOS camera reads QR codes by default. Just point your phone with the default camera app ON. No special mode required. I have a qr code printed on my living room (made to look like andy warhold art, with multiple colored panels etc) so that guests can use the wifi. Pretty convenient.

[sergiomattei]

Sounds great.

But I explicitly asked "outside the tech bubble".

Do real end users even know that these features exist? I've barely seen anyone use QR codes in the wild.

I feel my question was misinterpreted - it's not that I don't find QR codes useful or that technical people don't use them, but I believe the widespread populace aren't aware of the features that allow their use.

[throwaway66666]

Well, the fact that one of the biggest phone OS supports QR codes natively in the camera, severely reduces the friction that comes from "what's that weird thing, oh it's called a QR code, here's download this app on the appstore. No, not that one, it has a bitcoin miner in it. Yes the free one". Just point your phone to it and it works! Now whether the world outside caught on, or not... where I am from definitely not, however the biggest barrier was the problem I described above.

[HeWhoLurksLate]

Last year, my entire track team had to sign up by QR code.

Personally, I think that QR codes will only ever become more ubiquitous- there's plenty of easy QR code generators out there- as people move towards mobile devices and things that have always-accessible cameras.

Not many people like typing in long URL's to get somewhere.