For the scanner to use the camera, three conditions must be met: the portal is opened over HTTPS, the browser has received user permission, and on iOS the scanner only starts on a button tap. If something is off, the scanner does not open or shows a black screen. Below is each condition in detail.
Condition 1: HTTPS is mandatory
Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Samsung Internet) only allow camera access on sites with a secure connection — that is, the address bar starts with https:// and usually shows a lock icon.
If your portal is opened over http:// (without "s"), the scanner will not start. It is not a portal setting, it is a browser requirement and cannot be bypassed. Contact the firm administrator — they must configure an SSL certificate for the portal domain.
Exception: for development, browsers allow camera access on http://localhost and http://127.0.0.1. But this does not help regular users — they always have a full domain.
Condition 2: User permission
On the first tap of the scanner button the browser shows a popup: "{site} wants to use the camera" with two buttons "Allow" / "Block".
- Tapped "Allow" — the browser remembers the choice, the scanner opens immediately next time.
- Tapped "Block" — the browser also remembers, and on later attempts the scanner silently does not work (the prompt no longer appears automatically).
- Closed the popup (swipe / tap outside) — usually equivalent to "deferred the decision", and the prompt appears again next time.
How to change the decision if you blocked it by accident
Chrome / Edge (Android, Windows, macOS):
- Tap the lock icon to the left of the portal address.
- The list of permissions opens; find "Camera".
- Change the value from "Block" to "Allow".
- Reload the page.
Safari (iOS):
- Open iOS Settings → Safari → Camera.
- Find your domain in the list and switch it to "Allow" or "Ask".
Firefox:
- The shield or lock icon to the left of the address.
- "Permissions" → "Use the camera" → "Ask" or "Allow".
Condition 3: iOS Safari — only on a button tap
On iPhone and iPad the scanner does not start "on its own" even if it has permission and HTTPS works. The browser only allows camera access from a user-gesture handler — that is, after an actual button tap. So:
- The scanner is always started by tapping the button in the portal header, no automatic popups on page load.
- If the page has JavaScript logic that "opens the scanner immediately on load", on iOS it does not work — you still have to tap the button.
Privacy: what happens to the video
- Video is not sent to the server. QR recognition happens locally in the browser — frames are processed in device memory and discarded right away.
- Only the result is sent to the server — the recognised string (the QR contents).
- The video is not recorded. As soon as the scanner window is closed, the camera stream stops, the system camera indicator turns off.
- In the background the camera does not work — the portal has no camera access when the scanner window is closed.
If there are no other problems but the scanner still does not work
See the dedicated article "Scanner troubleshooting".