VitaShell 1.7 landed a short while ago and it has a peculiar new feature. That is the ability to read QR codes; this feature was created by “cxziaho” and got integrated into TheFlow’s famous VitaShell earlier today.  IMPORTANT: This is not working on VitaShell 1.74 so use 1.7-1.73 for this to work!

What’s a QR code? How do I use this to make downloading files easier?

For those who don’t know, a QR code is an image with a particular dot arrangement which when read by a QR code reader reveals a string of text. In most cases, this leads to some web address which means that downloading can be made even easier on the Vita. This is mostly because the Vita doesn’t have a copy/paste function and the browser, while not bad, sometimes doesn’t work well enough when trying to access some websites. Thanks to this new feature, you can easily copy direct download links to your Vita! To use this feature, you need to do the following:

1. Find the direct download link of what you wish to download. This usually ends with the file extension of the file you’re going to download (.zip is a common format for compressed files)
2. Go to a QR code generation website on your device (you may use any device including smartphones). The first website that popped up from a Google search is (Wololo is in no way affiliated with this website): http://qr-code-generator.com
   

   Creating a QR code on an iPad for the Touhou game for PSP. QR codes can be copied directly off the iPad’s screen

3. Open VitaShell on your PSVita and hold the left and right trigger till a box outputting your rear camera’s image comes up.
4. Point the rear camera at the QR code and your Vita will ask you whether you wish to open the link. If you choose to open it, the URL will be opened in the browser and you can download the file.
5. You’re finished! Now, you can find your files in ux0:/download/.

As you can see, with this method you avoid having to copy files over to your Vita via FTP or USB which makes life much easier especially if you’re not next to a computer. The QR Code reader opens the browser so you need to have Download Enabler (by TheFlow) to download files to your Vita.

Conclusion

To download VitaShell 1.7, you don’t need to do anything in most cases thanks to VitaShell’s update feature. Due to this, VitaShell will prompt you to upgrade to version 1.7 if you’re on an older release. Enjoy messing around with QR codes and hopefully VitaShell gets the ability to extract 7z and RAR files soon so that all downloads can be easily opened. If you have any issues, report them in a civil way to “TheFlow” on GitHub!

VitaShell 1.7 changelog + download link: https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/VitaShell/releases/tag/1.7

Download Enabler 0.3 (latest release): https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/DownloadEnabler/releases/tag/v3.0