Wow it even lets you copy the URL! (This is a gripe I've always had with Lens - it can read QR codes but doesn't let you copy the URL, so if you got redirected there's no easy way to get the original link.)
The HTML file that has them does not make it a link, I suppose.
A browser extension perhaps could add a command to decode a QR code (and possibly other barcodes), or an external program could do so from a screen capture or file or camera or any other video source (allowing it to work independently of the web browser).
If they were then you'd have to do one of two things:
1) ocr all images to check if they are QR codes
2) embed metadata saying that this image is a QR code and a link.
If you were betting on the metadata then why not just create a link directly...
I guess it is mostly because of the reason that QR codes are not always a URL! It might be something related to a payment or a wifi conf. Plus I don't think that browsers scanning every image for QR codes by default would be very great for it's efficiency and overall user privacy. But I think it could always be a good option to have especially for QR codes which are link. You can always use a extention though! :)
It's a good idea. Obviously you can't preemptively OCR all images but having "context menu -> follow link" which works on QR codes and images with links in them seems totally doable do me
I think that a separate program might be better, which could be used with any video source in any program, including a QR code made up from multiple pictures or from CSS, or a video, etc. Furthermore, it is not necessarily a URL.
However, it might also be made as a browser extension in case you do not want to use a separate program, or if you want to be able to follow such links directly without going through another program.
And this is built in to Android OS: "Search your screen" or "Circle to Search."[1]
[1]: https://www.android.com/ai/circle-to-search/
A browser extension perhaps could add a command to decode a QR code (and possibly other barcodes), or an external program could do so from a screen capture or file or camera or any other video source (allowing it to work independently of the web browser).
The assumptions made around a lot of QR codes don’t make much sense to me.
However, it might also be made as a browser extension in case you do not want to use a separate program, or if you want to be able to follow such links directly without going through another program.