Scan Barcodes with ML Kit on iOS

You can use ML Kit to recognize and decode barcodes.

See the ML Kit quickstart sample on GitHub for an example of this API in use.

Before you begin

1. If you have not already added Firebase to your app, do so by following the steps in the getting started guide.
2. Include the ML Kit libraries in your Podfile:

   pod 'Firebase/Core'
   pod 'Firebase/MLVision'
   pod 'Firebase/MLVisionBarcodeModel'
   

   After you install or update your project's Pods, be sure to open your Xcode project using its .xcworkspace.
3. In your app, import Firebase:

   Swift

   import Firebase

   Objective-C

   @import Firebase;

Input image guidelines

• For ML Kit to accurately read barcodes, input images must contain barcodes that are represented by sufficient pixel data. In general, the smallest meaningful unit of the barcode should be at least 2 pixels wide (and for 2-dimensional codes, 2 pixels tall).

  For example, EAN-13 barcodes are made up of bars and spaces that are 1, 2, 3, or 4 units wide, so an EAN-13 barcode image ideally has bars and spaces that are at least 2, 4, 6, and 8 pixels wide. Because an EAN-13 barcode is 95 units wide in total, the barcode should be at least 190 pixels wide.

  Denser formats, such as PDF417, need greater pixel dimensions for ML Kit to reliably read them. For example, a PDF417 code can have up to 34 17-unit wide "words" in a single row, which would ideally be at least 1156 pixels wide.

• Poor image focus can hurt scanning accuracy. If you aren't getting acceptable results, try asking the user to recapture the image.

• If you are scanning barcodes in a real-time application, you might also want to consider the overall dimensions of the input images. Smaller images can be processed faster, so to reduce latency, capture images at lower resolutions (keeping in mind the above accuracy requirements) and ensure that the barcode occupies as much of the image as possible. Also see Tips to improve real-time performance.

1. Configure the barcode detector

For example, to detect only Aztec code and QR codes, build a VisionBarcodeDetectorOptions object as in the following example:

let format = VisionBarcodeFormat.all
let barcodeOptions = VisionBarcodeDetectorOptions(formats: format)
ViewController.swift

FIRVisionBarcodeDetectorOptions *options =
    [[FIRVisionBarcodeDetectorOptions alloc]
     initWithFormats: FIRVisionBarcodeFormatQRCode | FIRVisionBarcodeFormatAztec];

2. Run the barcode detector

1. Get an instance of VisionBarcodeDetector:

   Swift

   lazy var vision = Vision.vision()
   let barcodeDetector = vision.barcodeDetector(options: barcodeOptions)
   ViewController.swift
   

   Objective-C

   FIRVision *vision = [FIRVision vision];
   FIRVisionBarcodeDetector *barcodeDetector = [vision barcodeDetector];
   // Or, to change the default settings:
   // FIRVisionBarcodeDetector *barcodeDetector =
   //     [vision barcodeDetectorWithOptions:options];
   

2. Create a VisionImage object using a UIImage or a CMSampleBufferRef.

   To use a UIImage:

   1. If necessary, rotate the image so that its imageOrientation property is .up.
   2. Create a VisionImage object using the correctly-rotated UIImage. Do not specify any rotation metadata—the default value, .topLeft, must be used.

      Swift

      let image = VisionImage(image: uiImage)

      Objective-C

      FIRVisionImage *image = [[FIRVisionImage alloc] initWithImage:uiImage];
      

   To use a CMSampleBufferRef:

   1. Create a VisionImageMetadata object that specifies the orientation of the image data contained in the CMSampleBufferRef buffer.

      For example, if you are using image data captured from the device's back-facing camera:

      Swift

      let metadata = VisionImageMetadata()
      
      // Using back-facing camera
      let devicePosition: AVCaptureDevice.Position = .back
      
      let deviceOrientation = UIDevice.current.orientation
      switch deviceOrientation {
      case .portrait:
        metadata.orientation = devicePosition == .front ? .leftTop : .rightTop
      case .landscapeLeft:
        metadata.orientation = devicePosition == .front ? .bottomLeft : .topLeft
      case .portraitUpsideDown:
        metadata.orientation = devicePosition == .front ? .rightBottom : .leftBottom
      case .landscapeRight:
        metadata.orientation = devicePosition == .front ? .topRight : .bottomRight
      case .faceDown, .faceUp, .unknown:
        metadata.orientation = .leftTop
      }
      

      Objective-C

      // Calculate the image orientation
      FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientation orientation;
      
      // Using front-facing camera
      AVCaptureDevicePosition devicePosition = AVCaptureDevicePositionFront;
      
      UIDeviceOrientation deviceOrientation = UIDevice.currentDevice.orientation;
      switch (deviceOrientation) {
          case UIDeviceOrientationPortrait:
              if (devicePosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationLeftTop;
              } else {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationRightTop;
              }
              break;
          case UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeLeft:
              if (devicePosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationBottomLeft;
              } else {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationTopLeft;
              }
              break;
          case UIDeviceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown:
              if (devicePosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationRightBottom;
              } else {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationLeftBottom;
              }
              break;
          case UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeRight:
              if (devicePosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationTopRight;
              } else {
                  orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationBottomRight;
              }
              break;
          default:
              orientation = FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationTopLeft;
              break;
      }
      
      FIRVisionImageMetadata *metadata = [[FIRVisionImageMetadata alloc] init];
      metadata.orientation = orientation;
      

   2. Create a VisionImage object using the CMSampleBufferRef object and the rotation metadata:

      Swift

      let image = VisionImage(buffer: bufferRef)
      image.metadata = metadata
      

      Objective-C

      FIRVisionImage *image = [[FIRVisionImage alloc] initWithBuffer:buffer];
      image.metadata = metadata;
      

3. Then, pass the image to the detect(in:) method:

   Swift

   barcodeDetector.detect(in: visionImage) { features, error in
     guard error == nil, let features = features, !features.isEmpty else {
       // ...
       return
     }
   
     // ...
   }
   ViewController.swift
   

   Objective-C

   [barcodeDetector detectInImage:image
                       completion:^(NSArray<FIRVisionBarcode *> *barcodes,
                                    NSError *error) {
     if (error != nil) {
       return;
     } else if (barcodes != nil) {
       // Recognized barcodes
       // ...
     }
   }];
   

3. Get information from barcodes

For example:

for barcode in barcodes {
  let corners = barcode.cornerPoints

  let displayValue = barcode.displayValue
  let rawValue = barcode.rawValue

  let valueType = barcode.valueType
  switch valueType {
  case .wiFi:
    let ssid = barcode.wifi!.ssid
    let password = barcode.wifi!.password
    let encryptionType = barcode.wifi!.type
  case .URL:
    let title = barcode.url!.title
    let url = barcode.url!.url
  default:
    // See API reference for all supported value types
  }
}

 for (FIRVisionBarcode *barcode in barcodes) {
   NSArray *corners = barcode.cornerPoints;

   NSString *displayValue = barcode.displayValue;
   NSString *rawValue = barcode.rawValue;

   FIRVisionBarcodeValueType valueType = barcode.valueType;
   switch (valueType) {
     case FIRVisionBarcodeValueTypeWiFi:
       // ssid = barcode.wifi.ssid;
       // password = barcode.wifi.password;
       // encryptionType = barcode.wifi.type;
       break;
     case FIRVisionBarcodeValueTypeURL:
       // url = barcode.URL.url;
       // title = barcode.URL.title;
       break;
     // ...
     default:
       break;
   }
 }

Tips to improve real-time performance

If you want to scan barcodes in a real-time application, follow these guidelines to achieve the best framerates:

• Throttle calls to the detector. If a new video frame becomes available while the detector is running, drop the frame.
• If you are using the output of the detector to overlay graphics on the input image, first get the result from ML Kit, then render the image and overlay in a single step. By doing so, you render to the display surface only once for each input frame. See the CameraSourcePreview and GraphicOverlay classes in the quickstart sample app for an example.

• If you use the Camera2 API, capture images in ImageFormat.YUV_420_888 format.

  If you use the older Camera API, capture images in ImageFormat.NV21 format.

• Consider capturing images at a lower resolution. However, also keep in mind this API's image dimension requirements.