{"id":1110,"date":"2012-08-12T14:55:10","date_gmt":"2012-08-12T04:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.qrstuff.com\/blog\/?p=1110"},"modified":"2025-07-30T18:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T08:59:13","slug":"dynamic-qr-codes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qrstuff.com\/blog\/qr-code-basics\/dynamic-qr-codes\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is A Dynamic QR Code?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A dynamic QR code is editable, as opposed to a static QR code which cannot be edited. Dynamic QR codes also allow for additional features like scan analytics, password protection<\/a>, device-based redirection<\/a>, and access management<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dynamic QR codes also result in a less dense QR code image that is more reliable to scan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Dynamic QR Codes vs Static QR Codes<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A basic fundamental of QR codes is that the pattern of modules in the QR code image is a direct graphical representation of the data it contains. That\u2019s just the way QR codes work and is the essence of the algorithm that creates the QR code image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has one big downside \u2013 changing the data encoded into the QR code has the consequential result of also changing the QR code image which, at first glance, presents a significant problem if the website URL that the QR code links to needs to be changed.  How to update the information in a QR code that\u2019s already been published?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We grappled with this dilemma in mid-2008 and figured out that the simplest way to address this problem was to have a short URL actually in the QR code and then provide our users with the ability to change where the short URL then redirected to. In this way, the content of the QR code (and the QR code image itself) didn\u2019t change (since it always contained that short URL), but where the user was sent to after the QR code was scanned could be changed at will behind-the-scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This approach doesn’t actually make the QR code itself “dynamic” because its contents stays the same, but by putting a user-editable short URL into the QR code it gives the impression that the QR code can be changed and achieved the outcome we were after – this is still how all dynamic QR codes work to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time we just thought this was a good way to pre-emptively make the creation of QR codes a bit more user-friendly, so we simply introduced it as a feature of the QRStuff.com<\/a> website in October 2008 without any fuss or fanfare as a standard part of the way we did things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past few years the term \u201cDynamic QR Code\u201d has been retrospectively applied to what we\u2019ve been doing as a matter of course since 2008. Even though dynamic QR codes have been heralded of late as some new breakthrough in the underlying technology, they\u2019re not. The only \u201cnew\u201d thing about them is now they have a new name, which is probably a good thing because we originally called them \u201cRe-Writeable QR Codes\u201d which was pretty lame – we like the term \u201cDynamic QR Codes\u201d much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there you have it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n