vCard vs MeCard: Contact QR Codes Explained
What is a contact QR code? Instead of typing a phone number digit by digit, you scan once and the contact saves itself. The trick: the code doesn't hold a link, it holds the contact card.
We open up a vCard (BEGIN:VCARD, VERSION:3.0, N, FN, TEL, EMAIL, ORG, URL, END:VCARD) and the shorter MeCard format created by NTT DOCOMO, show how iPhone and Android cameras offer to save the contact, and why every extra field makes the code denser, and why a photo won't fit. Then the catch: a static contact code can't be updated, so for details that change, a short link to a contact page is the better choice. We finish with where contact codes work best: business cards, event badges and email signatures.
Someone hands you a business card, then you type their number in, one digit at a time.
Or you scan one code, and the whole contact is saved.
A contact QR code doesn't hold a link.
It holds the contact card itself, in a format called vCard.
It opens with a begin line and a version.
3.0 is the safest choice, because nearly every phone reads it.
Then one field per line.
The name, the phone number, the email, the company, and the website.
And an end line closes it.
Point a phone camera at it.
And iPhone and Android offer to add it to your contacts.
No typing and no typos.
Every detail lands in the right field.
There's a shorter format, too.
MeCard created by NTT Docomo just for QR codes.
It's a single line.
Name, phone, and email separated by semicolons, with two semicolons at the very end.
No begin, no version, no end.
So the same details make a smaller code.
But MeCard only covers the basics.
And that's the rule for every contact code.
Each field you add means more characters and a denser code.
Add an address, two more numbers, and a note.
And the modules keep shrinking until a small card is hard to scan.
And a photo, written out as text, runs to thousands of characters.
It rarely fits at all.
One more catch, a vCard code is static.
The details are printed into the pattern.
Change your number, and every card you printed is out of date.
The alternative is a short link to a contact page.
The code stays small, and you can update the details anytime.
You'll find contact codes on business cards, event badges, and email signatures.
So, vCard or MeCard.
MeCard for the smallest code.
vCard when you need a job title, a company, or more than one number.
And on your business card, the contact code can be your own picture.
AriaQR turns any image into a QR code that still looks like your image.
Tested on real scanners before you pay.
Make yours at ariaqr.com.
On your business card, the contact code can be your own picture.
