Question: What do you call the square brackets used to target a barcode/QR scanner? I thought this would be called "reticle," but when I Google the term, all I see are circles with crosshairs. Is there a more precise term, especially in the context of a digital device/camera, or is reticle the word?

![scanner target](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vYbtD.jpg)

Answer: 
Well going to the actual source of QR codes - the company who invented them ([Denso Corporation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denso)) don't seem to have given that a particular name at all.

The products that they sell refer to that roughly in equal measure as the '[Reading Area](http://www.denso-adc.com/products/gt15)' or the '[Scanning Area](http://www.denso-wave.com/en/adcd/product/qrcode/handy_terminal/bht-800q.html)'.

Even the actual patent for QR codes: ([Optically readable two-dimensional code and method and apparatus using the same](http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=US&NR=5726435A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=7&date=19980310&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP)) doesn't detail the actual guide lines, only going as far as to state that it is an 'image pickup device'. 

You could *possibly* refer to it as a 'CCD Area', as a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) is the type of image sensor that QR codes use (see this patent: [Optical information reading apparatus](http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2006/0054844.html) - also from Denso) but that's not really the most intuitive term.

So basically, it seems like the specific term is still up-for-grabs. Reticule, 'Reading Area' or 'Guidelines' or whatever makes the most sense to the user really.
I've written a number of QR code-reading apps, and have always called it a "reticle" in my code, because (son of a photographer here) I was always taught that *any* lines, grid, crosshair, or indicia overlaid on a view (like a viewfinder in a camera) were *all* called reticles. Hence, it's a general term: a crosshair overlaid on a view is *also* a kind of reticle. I can see why it's not such a good user-facing term however, as it's not a simple, common English descriptive term. So for user-facing purposes, I'd go with Apple's usage and call it the "Focus Area," even if it's not literally used for focusing the lens— the point is it's directing the user where to put the focus of their attention.