App Store QR Code Generator

Paste an Apple App Store or Google Play link and get a download QR code with your app icon in the middle. Free, no account, no watermark, and it does not expire.

Free, no account, no watermark. The code is generated in your browser and points straight at the store page, so it keeps working for as long as that page exists.

Can one QR code send iPhone users to the App Store and Android users to Google Play?

Not by itself. A QR code is a picture of one URL. It has no code running in it, no awareness of the phone pointed at it, and no way to branch. Every tool that advertises a single code for both stores is doing the same thing underneath: the code holds a link, and the page behind that link reads the device and forwards it to the right store.

So the honest version of the question is which link you put in the code. The generator above puts your store URL in directly, which is the right answer when you are only chasing one platform: a TestFlight card, an iOS only launch, an Android kiosk. If you ship on both, a one store code sends half of everyone who scans it to a web page they cannot install from, and most of them will not think to search the other store themselves.

Covering both stores from one code

Create an AppPage link, point a single QR code at it, and the link decides at scan time: App Store on iPhone and iPad, Google Play on Android, and a landing page with both badges on desktop. Because the code holds your AppPage URL rather than a store URL, you can also change the destination after the code is printed, and you can see how many scans each platform sent. From $5/month.

Create a link for both stores

How to create a QR code for an app download

  1. 1

    Copy your store link

    Open your listing on apps.apple.com or play.google.com and copy the URL from the address bar. The share link from inside the store app works too.

  2. 2

    Paste it into the generator

    Paste the URL and select Generate QR code. The app name and icon are read from the store listing.

  3. 3

    Choose whether to show the icon

    The app icon sits in the middle by default. Turn it off for a plain code if the artwork is busy or very light.

  4. 4

    Download and test

    Take the PNG for screens and the SVG for print. Scan the downloaded file with two or three phones before you publish or print it.

Before you send it to a printer

Most QR codes that fail in the wild were never tested at the size and in the light they ended up in. Five things account for nearly all of it.

  • Size. Roughly one tenth of the reading distance. A code read at arm's length needs about 2cm; one read from three metres across a room needs about 30cm.
  • Quiet zone. Keep the clear margin on all four sides. Cropping tight to the pattern is the single most common way a code that worked on screen stops working on paper.
  • Contrast and polarity. Dark modules on a light background. Inverted codes and low contrast colour pairs read on some phones and not others, which is worse than failing outright because you will not notice.
  • Finish. Gloss and lamination throw glare straight back at the camera under shop lighting. Matte is safer.
  • Vector, not raster. Use the SVG for anything larger than a business card. A PNG scaled up in a layout program softens the module edges, and soft edges are what a scanner struggles with in poor light.

Then scan the final proof. Not the file on your monitor, the printed proof, with an old phone as well as a new one.

Why some free QR codes stop working later

If you have ever scanned a code on a leaflet and got an error page asking someone to upgrade their plan, you have seen a dynamic QR code that was switched off. It is worth understanding the difference before you commit a code to print.

Static

The destination URL is encoded in the pattern itself. Nothing sits in the middle, so nothing can be turned off, but the destination can never be changed. The codes from this page are static.

Dynamic

The pattern holds a short redirect URL owned by the generator. You get editable destinations and scan analytics, and you get a dependency: if that redirect is disabled, every printed copy dies at once.

Dynamic is not the problem. Dynamic on someone else's free tier is. Several popular generators hand out dynamic codes on a trial or a monthly scan quota, and the redirect stops resolving when either runs out. If you need a code whose destination can change, use one from a service you actually pay for, on a domain that will still be yours in three years.

Questions

Can one QR code open both the App Store and Google Play?+

Not on its own. A QR code is a picture of a single URL and has no way to tell what scanned it, so it cannot branch by device. The way it is done is to point the code at a link that checks the device when it is opened and forwards to the App Store, Google Play or a web page. The code stays the same, the link does the deciding. The generator on this page makes a code for one store; an AppPage link covers both from a single code.

Is this app QR code generator really free?+

Yes. No account, no email, no watermark, no scan limit, and no trial that ends. The code is drawn in your browser and encodes your store URL directly, so nothing about it depends on AppPage staying online. The paid product is the smart link that routes both platforms from one code, which is a different thing.

Will this QR code expire or stop working?+

No. It encodes your store URL directly rather than redirecting through a tracking domain, so there is nothing to switch off. This is worth checking before you print anything: many free generators produce a dynamic code that redirects through their own short domain, and that redirect is deactivated when the trial ends or the free scan quota runs out. Printed material made from one of those codes is dead the day it is disabled.

Why does my QR code not scan when printed?+

Usually size, contrast or quiet zone. Print it at least 2cm across for a code read at arm's length and roughly a tenth of the reading distance for anything further away. Keep the light margin around all four sides. Keep it dark on light, never light on dark, because most scanners expect dark modules. Avoid glossy laminate under direct light. Download the SVG rather than the PNG for large print, and scan the final proof with two or three real phones before the run.

Does putting the app icon in the middle break the code?+

Not at this size. The code is generated at the highest error correction level, which can recover roughly 30 percent of the data, and the icon covers about 20 percent of the width with the modules underneath cleared rather than drawn over. It still pays to test the downloaded file before you use it, especially if you scale it down.

Can I change where the QR code points after printing it?+

Not with a code from this page, because the store URL is baked into the image. Changing the destination later means pointing the code at a link you control instead, then editing that link. That is what an AppPage link is for, and it is also how you move a printed code to a new store listing or a seasonal landing page without reprinting.

Which store links work here?+

Any Apple App Store URL from apps.apple.com, including regional ones such as apps.apple.com/gb/, and any Google Play URL from play.google.com/store/apps/details. The app name and icon are pulled from the store listing automatically.