Quick App: RedLaser Barcode Scanner for iPhone
RedLaser [$1.99 - iTunes link ] scans barcodes, identifies the item your scanning, and then presents Google Product Search and Amazon shopping results for that item.
Sound familiar? It should, it was one of the few things we really lusted after when Google demoed the original Android G1 almost a year ago. Go into Barnes & Noble, see a book you like, snap the barcode, and instant price comparison. Boom. You can decide whether you need to buy it immediately or if you prefer to to order it and wait a little.
Both the iPhone 2G and 3G lacked the autofocus and short range macro clarity for that task, and while the iPhone 3GS made up for that in large degree, RedLaser is going the extra mile and enabling barcode scanning without using the autofocus. So, yes, it works fine on all generations of iPhone.
Doesn’t sound like it was easy — Apple rejected the application’s use of the camera 6 times before iPhone 3.1 rolled around and they got the big, green light to start scanning. It will no doubt be appreciated by users.
The features break down as follows:
- Scans UPC, EAN, and UPC-E
- You can email a list of products
- Automatically localized for currency (USD, EUR, GBP) and regionalized Amazon stores (.com/.co.uk/.de/.co.jp/.fr/.ca/.cn)
In our tests, it worked well (though getting our hands to hold the iPhone steady enough was a challenge — need to cut down coffee intake!). If you try it out, let us know what you think!
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September 23rd, 2009 at 11:47 am
I tried this out when it was a jailbreak app. Worked great!
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
There is one scan2shop or something like that which has been in the app store for a long time and works with the 3G. The photos ways look blurry but the app reads them nontheless.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 am
Why would this app get rejected 6 times by apple? Anyone have any ideas or details?
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Gino: I can give some insight into the rejections since it’s our application. Back in June, Apple policy changed and (almost) everyone who enhanced the camera screen was getting the boot. We had a poor version of RedLaser in the store at that time, but it was painful to watch negative reviews since we couldn’t update for a long, cold three months. Once iPhone OS 3.1 came out, we broke through again, and it’s great to see how much happier our users are! That’s our goal, to make everyone love it enough to give 5/5 stars!
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
i tryed it out, it never read the right code, try cyclops, everything works and is for free
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
It’s a great app and works on almost everything I’ve tried it on. Keep up the good work Mr. Powers.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I tried it out and worked brilliantly on everything I tried it with nearly instantaneously! Love it!
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
After the update, this app is a MUST BUY for any smart shopper! Works perfectly. Wow!
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Any chance you can integrate this with a Grocery Shopper app? Just scan items you need to buy.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I wonder if this would work for creating a database of comic books one owns. Can anyone see if it even has data on comics you scan?
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
jtz5: Actually yes! RedLaser the app is all about price comparison but we made an SDK for enterprising app developers to build in other cool uses of barcodes. I can’t announce anything yet, but I am pretty sure you’ll see this for groceries really soon.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
@Jeffrey:
See this is just another example of the mindless whimsical App review process. Here we have developers willing to make the iPhone better and PAY apple 30% for their troubles, yet they get rejected because it embarrasses Apple’s own developers to see how much better others can do given the same tools. /end rant…
Now what you have to do, Jeffrey, is license your software to all the Grocery Shopping app developers, (or better yet write such an App yourself, if you haven’t already). That class of apps REALLY needs this technology.
(They also need the ability to have more than ont iPhone feed into a single shopping list so that everyone in the household doesn’t need to grab Mom’s iPhone just to make sure toothpaste gets on the list, but that’s a rant for a different story).
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Utah: I think it should recognize most comics esp. via Amazon, but even if the comics aren’t in there, it can export a list of barcodes as email attachment and you could probably import that right into some list-keeping app.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I used this app as a jailbreak with the 3G. It works great. However, you will waste 30 minutes walking around your house looking for barcodes to scan…
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
pic2shop does the same thing but for FREE.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
It gets the title of comics right, but not the #, which is stored in an extended/addt’l barcode (at least it is for Direct Market).
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Pic2SHop doesn’t do the same thing specifically. In a very general way, it does but… RedLaser = faster to scan and faster with results by a factor of ten, opens links in a browser within the app instead of opening Safari just for a few things.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
zeagus: Perhaps we need to add scanning for the additional barcode — no current scanners do this, including on Android as far as I know. In the meantime someone could make a comic application that brings the numbers up for one-touch selection…
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
@Jeffrey Powers – thanks for the response. As an example, I have two issues of X-Factor in front of me. They have the same primary code – 7 59606 05878 5 and then issue 44 has an additional set of bars for 04411 and issue 45 has 04511. Easy enough for someone to make allowance for, I suspect.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Most books that I took a quick look at follow that format, with a few exceptions for some IDW miniseries and specials. When moving on to three digit issue numbering it goes ahead like so — issue 180 = 18011.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
@zeagus interesting, thanks for doing the research. We have some good friends that love comics in our office (the http://devver.com guys), and we also know the Take Comics guys ( http://www.takepublishing.com/) , so maybe something interesting can come of this.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I’ve found that using the iPhone 3G camera (haven’t tried with the 3GS) that you chances of getting a successful scan off of a round object (like canned goods) is slim to none. Bars that wrap around objects don’t work. Bars need to be pretty flat with this camera.
Book barcodes, (isbn) seem to work great, as long as you don’t let the scanner see that little category bar code beside the ISBN number. Hey @Jeffery: Any way to tap into public library card catalogs based on GPS locations?)
@Joe McG:, your estimate of wasting 30 minutes running around the house scanning codes is WAY too conservative.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
@icebike rounded stuff is more difficult for sure, in part because glare likes to mess with the image, and our algorithms have to calculate the curvature with not much information to go on. I find that once you perfect your technique, you can usually get a scan, but it’s definitely harder. it’s quite a bit better on 3GS.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:43 pm
@icebike oh, and that sounds like a useful app on its own (card catalog lookup) — any idea if this info is available online anywhere?
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Hmm…reminds me of some technology back in the early 90’s. It’s the CueCat!!! Granted with a bit more updated technology.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Great App. One nice addition would be Canadian localization. I know its a small market, but there’s a strong iPhone user base here. I plan to use this to catalog my dvd collection. The app is so much faster than delicious library!
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
@Rene Richie:
Its refreshing that J.Powers joins in here.
Having App Developers join in when you cover their products adds a great deal to the value of the reviews.
Have you thought of emailing developers/manufacturers ahead of time and inviting them to join in? I think the reception would be great.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
How is it Delicious Library is not allowed to use Amazon information in a cellphone, but these guys are? Someone needs to tell Will Shipley if he doesn’t already know.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
@Jeffrey Powers:
Card Catalogs are seachable on line at most libraries in urban areas.
Many of these seem to use search engines by SirsiDynix http://www.sirsidynix.com/Solutions/Products/portalsearch.php
WorldCat.org http://www.worldcat.org/ also has some search features which can figure out approximately where you are by IP, but also allow you to key in a city name.
However, there does not seem to be a great deal of standardization yet. (This is how badly we need Google Books).
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Anybody know where I could get a copy of the book, “Legends of Wingchun Embers of the Shaolin”?
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Just purchased this app… wow, it works great! I picked up a tub of N.O.-Xplode which is in a slightly rounded tub that has a little bit of shine to it, so I expected the app to have a little bit of trouble. However, it had snapped the pic and pulled up a huge listing before I had even steadied the camera! I am going to have fun with this one, thanks for making an effective app!
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Just bought the app. One word: AWESOME!!!
Thanks for making something that works as advertised!
Neurobit
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
i bought this app a couple of days ago. brilliant! it works much better than a number of other barcode readers i’ve tried.
what makes this one so good is that it is able to compensate for blurriness, so it works well on the first generation iphone and the 3G.
before this app, you really had to get the griffin clarfi macro lens equipped iphone case for these barcode readers to work properly.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Well, I just bought this as I’ve been waiting to get back at my friend with a Google phone who loves his scanner. The first two launches, it crashed, but now seems OK. It scanned correctly the first three items I tried. Using iPhone 3G and 3.1 OS.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
One other comment – and thanks to Jeffrey for posting here – when I can’t scan an item, I see no way to back out of the scan mode, except to try another item. You need to make it so you can cancel scan other than quitting the app.
Scott
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I was playing around and grabbed a small hand magnifier (8x) and holding that in front of the lens made a huge difference in scan success rate, and the ability to scan rounded surfaces. It shortens the focal distance such that you get clear bars.
Still looks just a little too geeky prowling the isles with a iphone AND a magnifier.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
ScottB:
Cancel at bottom of scan screen? Works for me.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:40 pm
scottb: that’s weird — you should totally see a cancel button onscreen. I have a feeling something might’ve gone funky with your install, can you email me and we can figure out what’s up? jeff at occipital.com
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:46 pm
No cancel here. Will delete and reinstall…
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Yep – I deleted and installed again and it’s now working like it should! Whew! I was very happy it turned out to be what I had hoped. First time must have been corrupted. Thumbs up!
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I love this app, but it does have the occasional hiccup… I do wish it had the fake red laser in the scanning mode like the G1 does. Consider it an asthetic request…
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I just got the app too. So far I only found 1 barcode that was recognized out of about 13. Does this only work in USA? I’m in Canada and it’s hardly picking up anything
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
@Michael:
Pretty funny. I scanned that bar code in the image above right off the computer screen. Nothing if not subtle, that Rene…
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
@icebike- just did it too, and while a computer screen is tough, it worked
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Whats the diff between this app and the Jailbroken one?
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Jordan R: $1.99
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I’m floored at the accuracy and quickness. I’m looking to inventory some equipment. any suggestions?
September 24th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Just bought it few hours ago and let me say this: I drove my wife nuts running around the house scanning different stuff. I’m very impressed with the database.
I have no issue scanning rounded/curved objects including shiny metals (like sprays). I’m using the 3GS though.
Keep up the good work JP
September 24th, 2009 at 8:45 am
This app works awesome, even in bad lighting! I’ve been waiting an eternity for Shop Saavy (Android) but this has filled the void. Everyone should get it.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Is there something I’m missing here? The app just doesn’t seem to initiate the scan. I can hold iphone totally still at the correct distance (ie the arrows are green), but there’s no button or anything to trigger the scan and the scan just never occurs. Bah.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Correction to above – it works on some items but not the book next to me (the first item I tried it on). Very bizarre.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Seems to struggle a little on blue UPC codes. Might be my 3G camera more than the software…
September 24th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Wow, this is super fast! great app!
Thanks,
Rick
September 24th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I love it. I’ve been running around the house scanning the hell out of everything. Fun application.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
What I am really looking for is something to both scan the codes and associate them with pictures/other information. Something like a cross between RedLaser and iOwn.
The scanner itself works great though.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
At Tanger Outlet Mall in Myrtle Beach SC on Friday: totally bored guy shopping with his gal in a shoe store. Used RedLaser to scan a box of shoes she liked and almost immediately told her that the price on the box was comparable to online prices. She bought the shoes. Just something for us guys to use to make an otherwise tortuous task (shopping) a little less so. Thanks Jeff!
October 7th, 2009 at 9:46 am
User story: As a bargin shopper I’d like to scan an grocery item in the store and add the price, and then later go to a different store scan the same item and have all of the previous prices from other grocery stores pop up so I can compare prices.
Can I do this with this app? Any ideas on other apps/combinations of apps that might get this done.