QR code audio guides: how they work and how to set one up

A QR code audio guide is an audio guide that visitors open by scanning a QR code with their phone's camera. The stop plays in the browser straight away: no app to download, no account and no device to borrow. For most museums, heritage sites, churches and outdoor routes, it is now the simplest and cheapest way to offer audio.

This guide explains how a QR code audio guide works, how it compares with apps and handsets, and how to set one up in five steps.

How it works

The visitor's journey has three moments:

1. Scan. They point the camera at the QR code next to an object, a room or a viewpoint. Every recent iPhone and Android phone reads QR codes from the camera app.
2. Open. The phone opens a web page: the stop's title, an image, the text and a play button.
3. Listen. They press play, choose their language if they need to, and listen with the phone's speaker or their own earphones.

Behind the code there is just a web address. That is what makes the format so flexible: the address stays the same while you change what it plays.

Why the browser beats an app

Apps promise more features, but they ask visitors to do something most will not do in a gallery: find the app in a store, download it over the venue's Wi-Fi and create an account.

According to Nubart, an audio guide provider that studied 175 museum apps, only 2.47% of visitors download them. Even allowing for the limits of a vendor's own study, the gap is large. A browser guide removes the download step entirely, so the first second of audio is one scan away.

The browser also has practical advantages for the venue:

• No store approvals. You publish when you are ready, not when a store reviews an update.
• Works on any recent phone. iPhone and Android, without separate versions.
• Instant updates. Fix a sentence and the next visitor hears the new version.

For a detailed comparison, read audio guide vs app.

One QR code per stop, or one per guide?

There are two ways to place codes, and most venues use both.

Codes per stop work best indoors because visitors do not need to look up numbers or scroll a list. A code at the entrance helps people discover the guide before they start.

In Muvo, every stop, every tour and the whole space has its own QR code, and each one keeps working when you change the text, the voice or the languages behind it. You print it once.

Free or paid access

A QR code audio guide can be free for everyone or sold at the desk.

• Free access. Anyone who scans listens. Ideal when the audio guide is part of the visit or a public service.
• Access with a code. Visitors type a short code printed on their ticket before they can listen. You sell the code at whatever price you choose, or include it in the ticket.

With Muvo's access with code, each visitor gets a 6-digit code that works on up to two phones for two hours, and the venue keeps all of what it charges. How to make money from your audio guide explains the options and the numbers.

Connectivity: what if there is no signal?

A browser guide needs a connection to open each stop. In practice:

• Most city museums have mobile coverage or public Wi-Fi good enough for audio.
• Thick stone walls, cellars and remote sites may not. Test every stop on mobile data before you launch.
• If one room has no signal, offer Wi-Fi there, or move the code to the doorway where the signal is good and let visitors listen as they walk in.

Short stops help too: a 90-second stop loads quickly even on a weak connection.

Privacy

Because visitors listen in the browser, you do not need to ask them to create an account or give an email. That keeps the experience quick and keeps you out of the personal data you would otherwise have to protect under the GDPR.

On Muvo, visitors never sign up to listen, and the statistics you see are anonymous: listens per stop and per language, with no names or emails.

Accessibility

A good QR guide is also an accessible one. Look for a player that:

• works with screen readers such as VoiceOver and TalkBack;
• has large controls that can be used with one hand;
• shows the text of each stop, so deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors can read it;
• lets visitors change speed and jump back a few seconds.

Muvo's player is built to WCAG 2.2 AA. Our guide to accessible audio guides covers content, too.

How to set one up in five steps

1. Choose your stops. Walk the route and pick 8 to 25 places where people naturally stop.
2. Write each stop. About 90 seconds, written for the ear. How to write an audio guide script explains how.
3. Add the voice and languages. Record yourself or use an AI voice; translate the languages you need.
4. Print the codes. Large enough to scan from where people stand, with a short line saying what they will hear. QR codes in museums covers sizes and placement, and free QR sign templates gives you ready formats.
5. Test and publish. Walk the route with a new phone on mobile data, fix what does not work and publish.

What visitors who cannot scan can do

Most people can scan a code today, but not everyone. Nubart estimates that around 5% of visitors need help. Plan for them:

• Print a short web address next to the code that people can type.
• Tell desk staff how to open the guide so they can show visitors.
• Keep a printed version of the texts for visitors without a phone.

Do visitors actually scan QR codes? looks at the data on take-up and what increases it.