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Instagram uses Snapchat-like tags to make adding friends easier
Instagram has yet another answer to Snapchat, but this time it's covering one of the basics: namely, adding friends. Months after it started testing, the social network has introduced "nametags" that make friend additions as simple as pointing your camera at a code, much like Snapcodes. Once you've created a nametag (complete with colors, emojis and selfies), your soon-to-be pal just has to launch the camera and hold down on the screen when the tag is in view. From there, they'll receive options to either follow straight away or view the profile. You can share nametags with others through text messages or other social platforms if you're trying to build as wide an audience as possible.
Amazon's QR-like 'SmileCodes' are the key to discounts and Lockers
Amazon will start rolling out its own version of QR codes, TechCrunch reports. Called SmileCodes, they function just like a typical QR code -- scan it with your phone and see where it leads -- but they'll only be scannable through the Amazon app and, naturally, they feature the very recognizable Amazon smile right in the center. According to TechCrunch, Amazon has been piloting them for the past few weeks in pop-up shops and Amazon Lockers in Europe and next month, SmileCodes will hit the US. They'll debut in magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Seventeen.
Snapchat now creates QR codes for web links
Remember the days when you were supposed to share websites between phones using QR codes? They're back, but with a modern twist. Snapchat is updating its mobile apps (iOS at first, with Android still in beta) with the ability to create Snapcodes for websites, not just your profile. If you want to share an article or plug your favorite page, your friends only have to capture it to start browsing from within the app.
Snapchat lets you add friends with a link, at last
Snapchat is a messaging platform that's so cool that the primary way to connect two people is by using... a QR code. Or at least it did, since its creators are now rolling out a way for you to add friends by creating a URL. That means that if you want to add Engadget to your feed, you can do so by heading over to snapchat.com/add/gadgetsnaps. It's not clear if this will make Snapchat more acceptable to the people who think it has a awful user interface, or if doing so will make the service less desirable to millennials. Either way, it's probably better pointing people to a URL than trying to make sharing a screenshot of a QR code seem cool.
