Square website lies about compatibility

Jay500 — Sat, 07 Nov 2026 16:31:56 GMT

My client runs a small gym and has been a Square customer for at least 8 years. We recently attempted to upgrade our set up, to have one iPad at the front desk in a Square Stand: Square POS for selling gear, plus our own online check-in app so members can scan their card when they walk in. One iPad, one scanner, two jobs. This is not rocket science.

I did my homework before I bought anything. Square's own compatibility list (https://squareup.com/au/en/compatibility/accessories/barcode-scanners) says the Zebra DS9308 is compatible with Square Stand. So I bought the Stand, a $1,000 iPad and a $300 Zebra scanner based off that list.

It is not compatible. Here's what actually happens:

- Scanner plugged straight into the iPad: works everywhere as a HID scanner should. Apple Notes, our check-in app, Square, all work as they should.

- Same scanner plugged into the Square Stand: works in the Square app and then nothing else. Notes, nothing. Check-in app, nothing. Dead.

(All proven on video. I even sent the videos to Square support, but more on that in a moment.)

Long story short: the Square Stand blocks your scanner from working in any app except Square's. Their website says nothing about this. It just says it's compatible.

Now for the worst part: Square support's response.

The first time I called, they refused to help because I wasn't the "account owner" (my client was). This was clearly a hardware problem with nothing to do with the account.

Doesn't matter. Support is trained to do one thing, and it isn't helping. It's following the script and getting you off the phone as fast as possible.

19 Oct: I explained the issue very clearly over a painful 37-minute call and got zero help. Then came the follow-up email. It literally says "Zebra barcode scanners are compatible with Apple Notes", and that scanning a barcode "will immediately type the decoded text digits directly into the text field where your cursor is flashing." That is EXACTLY what I want it to do. That is EXACTLY what it doesn't do through their Stand. Square's own support confirmed in writing that it should work. Then they tacked on a copy-pasted guide to pairing a WIRELESS Zebra over BLUETOOTH, for completely different models. Mine has a cord.

22 and 23 Oct: I replied, saying it doesn't work and that their own website says it's compatible. No response.

30 Oct: Called support again. Another 22 minutes on the phone. No solutions.

2 Nov: Called support again. 42 minutes on the phone. They asked for a video, so I sent two: the same scanner working perfectly when plugged directly into the iPad, then failing the second it goes through the Stand. It literally could not be clearer.

3 Nov: Their verdict, "after consulting our technical team": factory reset your scanner, put it in USB HID keyboard mode, and maybe ask the scanner's retailer. IT'S ALREADY IN KEYBOARD MODE. That's why it types into Apple Notes IN THE VIDEO I SENT THEM. I'd already reset it multiple times and told them so. Their "technical team" either didn't watch the video or is too stupid to follow a basic process of elimination.

3 Nov: I ask them to escalate. I ask if someone at Square could grab one of their OWN Stands and the same scanner and try it themselves. Five days later, still no reply.

Every reply I've had is generic copy-paste support advice. Not one of them deals with the video, the fact that the scanner works perfectly without their Stand, or their own compatibility list. The gaslighting and incompetence from both the support team and the technical team are so bad they're a sad joke.

They still tried to blame the scanner (the one that's on their own website's compatibility list), after I proved on video that it works. Meanwhile the Stand, the thing Square actually makes and the only thing that changed in the test, they refuse to acknowledge as the cause of the problem.

If blocking the scanner outside their app is deliberate, fine, but put "works in the Square app only" on the compatibility page. Instead they let businesses like ours drop $1,300+ on an iPad and scanner off the back of their list, then waste weeks of our time on the phone pretending it's our fault.

thread Square website lies about compatibility in Hardware Setup & Troubleshooting

Square website lies about compatibility