A poster, a package, or a counter display can carry a shortcut straight to an app's listing, so nobody has to open a store and pick the right result out of several look-alikes. The Get or Install button is one tap away the moment the code opens.
A QR code holds one address, though, which is the catch for an app download aimed at both platforms: an iPhone opened on a Google Play link, or an Android phone opened on the App Store, lands nowhere useful. Print two labeled codes, one for each store, or point a single code at a download page on your own site that sends each phone to the right one.
Setting up an app store QR code
Copy the App Store link
On an iPhone, open your app's listing in the App Store, tap the share icon and choose Copy Link. The address looks like apps.apple.com/us/app/your-app/id followed by a number.
Copy the Google Play link
Open the listing at play.google.com in a browser and copy the address. The part that matters is details?id= and your package name.
Decide between two codes and one page
For one platform, encode that store link. For both, print two codes labeled App Store and Google Play, or one code linking to a download page on your site that shows both badges.
Scan the proof with both kinds of phone
Test the proof with an iPhone and an Android phone. A store link opened on the wrong platform shows a web page without an install button.
One code for iPhone and Android: the options that exist today
A static code is one fixed address, and a MakeQR dynamic code forwards every scan to one destination; neither checks which phone is scanning. An app store redirect page that would do this is planned at MakeQR but not built yet. Until then, three routes work.
Two labeled codes
The most reliable option, and completely free. Place them side by side with the store names printed underneath. People know which phone they are holding.
A download page on your own site
If your website has a download page with both store badges, or a script that redirects by device, point one static code at it. Your page does the routing.
A Pro link page
MakeQR's hosted link page puts several links on one page, so both store buttons sit behind one code. It is part of Pro and uses a dynamic code, so the links can change later.
Getting app store QR code links right
Store URLs often carry parameters from a marketing dashboard, a language code or a campaign token, and all of it goes into the pattern. For the App Store, apps.apple.com/app/id plus the number is enough. For Google Play, keep details?id= and the package name, and drop the rest unless you use Google Play's referrer parameter for install attribution.
The store address inside the code
An app code contains a plain https store address. The phone recognizes the store domain and hands the link to the store app, which opens on your listing. The device is not checked; every phone receives the same address.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.northside.bakeryWhere app download codes get scanned
The best spots are where people have a phone in hand and a reason to install: by the register for a loyalty app, on a table tent for an ordering app. A 30 mm code works on packaging and receipts at arm's length; a window poster read from two meters needs about 20 cm. Two codes should be the same size with at least 1 cm between them, so a phone does not pick up the wrong one.
Print it at least 30 mm (3.0 cm) wide
Why app codes send people to the wrong place
One store link for everyone
An App Store link on a poster for an app that is also on Android shuts out part of your audience. Android users land on a web page they cannot install from.
Encoding a store search
A link to a store search can show competitors above you. Link the listing itself.
Printing before the listing is public
Pre-order pages and testing links behave differently from a live listing. Encode the public listing and scan it again on launch day.
Static or dynamic for an app download code?
A store listing address rarely changes, so a static code pointed straight at it is the sensible default: free, permanent, and nothing in between.
Choose dynamic for packaging or signage that will outlast your current setup, for instance if you might replace the app or move from two codes to a link page later. A dynamic code can be re-pointed and counts scans, but it still sends every phone to the same place.
How dynamic QR codes workApp download codes in practice
- A coffee chain prints two codes on its cup sleeves, one per store, for its loyalty app.
- A smart home brand puts a code inside the box lid that opens its website's download page.
- A festival shows one code on its entrance banners that opens a link page with both store buttons.