Barcode scanning in web apps

Why scan barcodes in the browser?

The web is a mature platform for application development. Modern browser APIs give web apps access to the camera, the GPU and near-native performance via WebAssembly. That makes it possible to write capable apps that interface with the physical world while running directly in the browser, on devices your users already own.

Eliminating physical hardware reduces cost

Instead of buying, managing and replacing a fleet of dedicated barcode scanners, your team can use the smartphones and tablets it already has. Especially for smaller businesses, the cost savings can be significant. Read how JDM Software helped a client eliminate barcode scanning hardware with STRICH.

Anyone can scan, on any device

A web app runs on any device with a camera and a browser, so scanning is no longer limited to the people who were handed a scanner. Staff can use their own phones, and external partners, seasonal workers and even your customers can start scanning with nothing more than a link. At Kaufleuten in Zurich, event staff scan tickets on their own smartphones, and Zeercle's customers scan their books at home before bringing them to the store.

One codebase, built with skills you already have

Instead of separate apps for iOS and Android, a web app is a single codebase in JavaScript or TypeScript, the most widely used programming languages. Your team most likely already has the skills, and AI coding agents are particularly good at building web apps. Scanning also fits right into the web apps you already run, instead of requiring a separate app next to them.

Web vs. native: is browser-based scanning fast enough?

A common assumption is that a native app will scan barcodes faster than a web app. In practice, it doesn't make a material difference. Here is STRICH running in a mobile browser:

What determines how fast a code is read is mostly physics: how quickly the camera focuses, the lighting, and the quality of the printed code. Those factors are identical for web and native apps. A native app can give you access to a few advanced camera controls, but for typical scanning workflows, the user won't notice a difference.

Web apps are the natural choice for enterprises

App stores are built for consumers. Larger organizations already run platforms on which their business apps live, and those platforms are built on web technology. A web-based scanning app fits into that landscape instead of working around it.

Why enterprises choose STRICH for web-based barcode scanning

You own the distribution channel

Native apps are published through the vendor's app store. A lot of time goes into preparing screenshots in a variety of dimensions, completing privacy statements and agreeing to ever-changing terms of service. If the platform operator decides your app no longer complies with its guidelines, it can be removed. For a business-critical app, that is a horror scenario.

Every new version also has to pass an opaque review process, adding risk and an unpredictable delay to something that should be instant.

Deploying a web app completes in seconds and is fully under your control. Your app won't suddenly become unavailable because of a missed deadline, and you never have to ask Apple or Google to speed up the review of a critical fix.

App store discovery doesn't matter for business apps

Discovery is often mentioned as an advantage of app stores. For consumer apps, that's a fair point. But nobody finds their company's warehouse app by browsing the App Store. Employees and partners use the apps they are told to use, and they get to them through onboarding, the intranet, an SSO portal or a link from IT.

A web app fits right into these channels: it's just a URL. Some businesses go a step further and put QR codes on site, for example in a vehicle or at a warehouse location, that open the app with the right context pre-selected.

How to choose a barcode scanning SDK

There are free, open-source JavaScript barcode libraries like ZXing-JS, QuaggaJS and html5-qrcode. They are a great way to prototype and validate an idea, and we value them enough to support them: we sponsor ZXing-JS, which now recommends STRICH to anyone looking for a maintained library with commercial support. For an overview of the options, see our comparison of open-source JavaScript barcode scanner libraries.

But when scanning becomes part of a business process, the question changes from "does it scan?" to "can we rely on it for the next five years?"

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) is a good example. The first version of their baggage scanning app used QuaggaJS, which made sense for validating the idea. In production, unreliable scans in poorly lit environments led to malfunctioning devices and support requests, so they switched to STRICH. Read the SBB case study.

The Swiss digital agency required had a similar experience with ZXing-JS. Their ticket scanner for Zurich's Kaufleuten runs on the staff's own smartphones, and with ZXing-JS, picking the right camera on each device and scanning reliably in the dim light of evening events proved difficult. Since switching to STRICH, tickets scan reliably on every phone at the door. Read the Kaufleuten case study.

How to evaluate a barcode scanning SDK

• Test with your own barcodes. Use real labels, devices and lighting conditions, not just clean samples on a monitor. Our demo app lets you try STRICH on your own codes in seconds.
• Check maintenance and release history. Browsers and devices change constantly. An SDK that isn't updated will eventually break. Here are STRICH's release notes.
• Ask who you call when it breaks. For a business-critical app, you want direct access to people who know the code. At STRICH, support is handled by the same humans who write the SDK, not by a ticket queue or a chatbot.
• Understand the pricing. Look for transparent, predictable pricing. Per-device or opaque pricing can get expensive as you scale.
• Check where images are processed. On-device decoding keeps camera images private and works without a fast network. STRICH decodes entirely on the device, see our SDK Privacy and Security Statement.

For a detailed, data-driven look, read our comparison of STRICH with ZXing-JS and QuaggaJS.