Code 128
incl. GS1-128
The workhorse of logistics: compact, alphanumeric, and everywhere behind the scenes.
- Type
- Linear (1D)
- Encodes
- The full ASCII set, letters, digits and symbols
- Density
- High — one of its modes packs two digits per symbol character
- GS1-128
- The same symbology carrying structured GS1 data
Where EAN and UPC carry a product number and nothing else, Code 128 carries whatever you need: a consignment reference, a serial, a location, a mix of letters and digits. That flexibility is why it dominates shipping and logistics labelling.
It achieves its density by switching between modes as it encodes. One of those modes stores two digits in the space a single character would normally take, so a long numeric reference ends up far shorter than the same number in an older alphanumeric format.
GS1-128 is not a separate symbology but an agreed way of using this one. The data is prefixed with Application Identifiers that give each field a defined meaning — batch, expiry, quantity, serial — so a single symbol can carry several facts in a form every reader understands the same way.
Where you meet it
Logistics and shipping labels. The GS1-128 variant carries the GS1 fields.
Can a phone scan Code 128 and GS1-128?
Yes, both, as standard. For GS1-128 the keyboard also parses the Application Identifiers, so the batch, expiry and other fields are shown as named values rather than one long run-together string.
How to scan it with your phone
- 1
Install Barcode & QR Scanner Keyboard from Google Play and enable it as a keyboard.
- 2
Open Settings → Scanning engine and choose TRAKWIND Scan.
- 3
Tap the barcode key on the keyboard and point the camera at the code.
The value is typed into whatever field you were already in — a spreadsheet, an ERP screen, a web form. There is nothing to integrate.
Read it with the phone in your pocket
Free on Google Play. No licence, no extra hardware, and nothing to connect.