What major technological shift in 2017 significantly accelerated the surge of QR code usage across North America and Europe?
Answer
Native integration into the default Camera applications via iOS 11
The single most significant accelerant for QR code adoption in Western markets occurred in 2017 when major mobile operating systems began incorporating scanning capabilities directly into their default Camera applications. Specifically, Apple released iOS 11, and Google followed suit, allowing users to scan codes simply by pointing their phone camera at the image without needing to download a separate, third-party application. This removal of the friction point—the extra download step—led to an immediate and massive surge in consumer usage.
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