Comparison

R2 Touch vs QR + Barcode Scanner

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

R2 Touch

This app serves as a remote control for R2-D2 replica robots equipped with specific receiver boards. It allows users to control various droid functions like dome panels, holoprojectors, sounds, and lighting. Users can upload their own sound files for playback and customize button commands.

Highlights
  • Control dome panels, holoprojectors, sounds, and lighting
  • Upload custom sound files
  • Programmable ASCII string commands
  • WiFi and serial output options
  • Customizable buttons
  • R2-D2 inspired interface
Features
Read full description

This is a remote control app for members of the R2 Builders Club. Apart from looking pretty, and playing sounds (if you upload them to the application), it doesn't do anything unless you are building an R2-D2 replica robot and have MarcDuino receiver boards (as described in www.marcduino.com and on my build log on Astromech.net). If you do, lucky you, it will allow you to control the dome panels, holoprojectors, sounds and dome lighting of your Droid in all sorts of interesting ways. You can see a demo of how it works with my R2 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUod3LRQ1DI The app can run all the way down to iOS 8 on an iPhone 4S. The app doesn't include any sounds by default. If you want sounds to play directly from the app or through Bluetooth, you must upload your own sounds files to the App using iTunes. The sound files are typically the exact same you'd use in your remote sound system of the robot such as my MP3Trigger setup (described on www.marcduino.com). Commands, in the form of programmable short ASCII strings, are sent via the internal WiFi iPhone radio to a remote WiFly receiver. Alternately, the app also generates a 9600 baud serial output stream on the earphone audio port. This way you can send serial command to an external XBee transmitter radio for a more reliable link. You'll need a small level adapter board to use the audio serial capability, also on www.curiousmarc.com. Since you can customize most buttons and commands, you could also use this as a generic remote control app to send any short serial string via WiFi (to a WiFly radio fore example) or serial link (through an XBee). And with a spiffy R2-D2 inspired interface to boot!

About

QR + Barcode Scanner

Features
Read full description

This app allows you to scan various types of QR codes or barcodes. Features: - Supports QR code scanning. - Supports scanning various barcode standards, including QR, EAN8, EAN13, UPC, Code39, Code93, Code128, PDF417, Aztec, DataMatrix, ITF14, and Interleaved2of5. - Supports QR codes from photos opened in the photo gallery. - Supports activating the flashlight to increase brightness when scanning QR codes. - The resulting data can be used in various ways, such as opening a website link directly using Safari (Open Safari button), copying the link (Copy button), or sharing the data to other channels (Share button). - Supports saving a history of previously scanned QR codes or barcodes in the History window (you can delete individual items or all as needed). - In the settings page, you can set up vibration and sound notifications when a scan is complete.

Screenshots

R2 Touch4 screens
QR + Barcode Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: QR + Barcode Scanner at Free against R2 Touch's $5.99. QR + Barcode Scanner also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 10 months). R2 Touch's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.6). On in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

QR + Barcode Scanner is free to download; R2 Touch costs $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

R2 Touch ships an update every 10 months, QR + Barcode Scanner every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
R2 Touch versus QR + Barcode Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterR2 TouchQR + Barcode Scanner
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNeil Hutchisonnakhon phagdeechat

In-app purchases

None

R2 Touch

No in-app purchases

None

QR + Barcode Scanner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is R2 Touch free?
R2 Touch costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is QR + Barcode Scanner free?
QR + Barcode Scanner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do R2 Touch or QR + Barcode Scanner have ads?
QR + Barcode Scanner shows ads; R2 Touch does not.
Which is updated more often, R2 Touch or QR + Barcode Scanner?
R2 Touch ships an update every 10 months, and QR + Barcode Scanner every 3 months. Most recently, R2 Touch was updated on November 1, 2026 and QR + Barcode Scanner on October 28, 2026.

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