In short
The App's scanner reads more than one kind of thing: invisible Linxy Marks embedded in printed images, audio signals, GS1 codes on retail packaging, and ordinary barcodes and QR codes. It decides which it is looking at and behaves accordingly.
The distinction worth carrying: a Linxy Mark is looked up on the platform, so it can change destination, be switched off, and count the interaction. An ordinary barcode is simply followed — whatever it encodes is where you go, and nobody learns anything.
On this page
What the scanner can read
Point the App at something and it works out what it has. There is no mode to choose first.
| What it is | How it behaves | Can it change later |
|---|---|---|
| A Linxy Mark — an invisible signal inside a printed or on-screen image | The signal identifies a record on the platform, which decides where you go | Yes — destination, rules and availability are all controlled by the owner |
| An audio signal | The same lookup, from sound rather than a picture | Yes |
| A GS1 code on retail packaging | Read as a product identity and matched to the owner's record for that product | Yes |
| A barcode or QR code | Followed directly. Whatever it encodes is where you go | No — the code is the destination |
What happens after a successful read
- The signal is decoded on the phoneNo network needed for this part. If nothing is decoded, nothing is sent anywhere.
- The identity is sent to the platformThis step needs a connection. What travels is the identifier, not a photograph.
- The record is foundOr it is not — an identity with no record behind it returns nothing to open.
- The App is told what kind of thing this isA web page, an image, a video, an audio file — or something that is not content at all, which is the next section.
- The content opens, and the item is added to your historyOn your device, for you. Everything opens inside the App — video and audio in the App’s own player, web pages in the App’s own web screen — never in your phone’s browser.
Why some scans do not open content
Not every Mark is a doorway to a page. The platform tells the App when a Mark has a different job, and the App switches to the matching screen instead of a viewer. This surprises people who assume every scan should show them something.
| Instead of content you see… | Because |
|---|---|
| A sign-in approval prompt | The Mark is a live LinxyPass mark. Scanning it is how you approve signing in to a website |
| An event gate screen | The Mark is the gate for an event. Scanning it checks you in, or opens the operator's console if that is your role |
| A connection request | The Mark is somebody's connect code (invitation Mark), shown on their screen or written to a tag. If they are not showing it at that moment the App says the invitation isn't active and offers nothing |
| A password prompt, or a request to be signed in | The owner has protected the Mark. The rules apply to the App exactly as they do on the web |
| A message about being outside the area | The Mark is location-gated and you are not in the zone |
| A message that the item is no longer available | The owner archived it, or it passed its expiry date |
| A page that says Nothing here yet | The owner has not set up the Mark’s content yet |
| An event page | The Mark belongs to an event. Scanning it while signed in opens the event first, with the content inside it. See Scanning an event Mark |
The scanner's controls
Technique that actually helps
- Fill the frame with the marked area. A Mark is a physical pattern with a size; too far away and there is nothing to read.
- Hold still for a beat. Most failed reads are motion, not distance.
- Move the glare, not the phone. On gloss and foil, tilt the object a few degrees rather than circling around it.
- Turn the torch off on shiny stock. It creates the hotspot that hides the signal.
- Try a different part of the design. The signal is not always evenly present across a large piece.
- Check your connection. Decoding works offline; looking the result up does not.
What is recorded
A successful Linxy Mark scan is recorded against the owner's Mark: the date, approximate location, device and browser characteristics, and language. That is how owners see their interaction data. Ordinary barcodes and QR codes record nothing at all, because the platform is never involved.
Two things follow that regularly confuse people. If you are the owner of a Mark and you are signed in, your own scans are not recorded — testing your own item produces no data by design. And a repeat scan of the same item from the same device inside a short window is not counted twice, so hammering a Mark to check that counting works produces exactly one entry.
When the content is video or audio
A scan that resolves to a video or an audio file does not open a web page. The App plays it in its own player — tap to play or pause, drag the scrubber — and the media streams through the same short-lived view that protects every other kind of content, so nothing you can find on the phone points at where the file really lives. That is also why a tap on a marked poster is usually playing within a couple of seconds: there is no page to build first. If the player cannot start, the App falls back to opening the content as a page. What the protection does and does not cover is in How protected content opens.
Symptoms, causes and fixes
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing happens no matter how you hold it | Too far, moving, or the piece was printed too small or too gently for the signal to survive | Closer, still, no torch on gloss. If a whole print run behaves this way, the run is the problem |
| It reads on screen but not in print | The printed reproduction lost the signal — scaled down, or printed at a size the tuning did not anticipate | Nothing the scanner can fix. The Mark needs regenerating at the real output size |
| "URL does not exist" | The signal decoded, but no record on the platform matches it | Usually a test image, a mark from another system, or a record since deleted |
| The scan resolves but nothing loads | Decoding succeeded offline; the lookup needs a connection | Get a signal and scan again |
| The camera does not start when the App opens | Enable Biometric is on and the App is waiting for your face or fingerprint. Until you answer, the whole App, scanner included, stays locked | Verify, or tap Try again on Verification required |
| The camera stops reading after a scan | Detection is held while the next screen owns the flow | Finish or leave that screen. It resumes |
| Your own scans never appear in your data | Owner scans are excluded while you are signed in | Test from a signed-out device, or ask somebody else to scan |
| A QR code opens something unexpected | A QR code is followed literally — there is no platform in between to control it | Nothing to change. That is what an ordinary code is |
Things people commonly get wrong
Related reading: My Mark will not scan, Your scan history, How protected content opens, Why it says you are outside the area, and Reading your interaction data.