Every tire carries its own spec. Width, profile, construction, rim diameter, load index, and speed rating are molded into the sidewall. They stay there for the life of the tire. Getting that spec into software is the part that still costs someone time.
A technician crouches, reads 205/55 R16 91V off a curved black surface in a badly lit bay, stands up, and types it into a form. A tire size scanner takes that step out of the workflow.
What a tire size scanner does
A tire size scanner reads the size code molded into a tire sidewall and returns it to your software as structured data. It runs optical character recognition on the camera in a phone or tablet. The technician holds the device up to the sidewall. The scanner finds the size string, and the value arrives in the field that was waiting for it.
The code is six values in one string. Section width, aspect ratio, construction type, rim diameter, load index, and speed rating all sit inside 205/55 R16 91V. Your software gets them as separate fields. That is enough to match a tire to a vehicle, price a replacement set, or check that the fitted tire meets the rating the vehicle needs.
This is identification work. The value already exists on the tire and it has a defined structure. A machine reads it faster than a person can call it out across a workshop, and it reads it the same way every time.
What the Anyline scanner reads from a sidewall
Tire size is one field in a wider sidewall read. The same camera session returns the DOT/TIN code, serial numbers, and tire make and model.
That read sits inside TireBuddy ToolKit, Anyline’s SDK for digital tire inspections. The same kit covers tread depth to a precision of 0.5 mm, plus VIN, license plate, odometer, and driver’s license identification. A workflow that starts with tire size does not need a second supplier the day it also needs the DOT code. Tire coverage is passenger vehicles and vans.
Three ways to integrate it
Inside your own app
TireBuddy ToolKit is the SDK route. It supports native iOS and Android, plus Flutter, React Native, Cordova and .NET MAUI. The scanner goes into the app your team already ships. Anyline also publishes a Web SDK for browser flows, which is the route for an online store that wants the shopper scanning from their own phone. The capture screen is configurable, so it carries your own interface instead of opening a window that belongs to someone else.
On the devices your team already carries
The scanner runs on standard smartphones and tablets. For iOS, Anyline recommends the iPhone SE (3rd Gen), iPhone 11, and above. For Android, the list is the Samsung Galaxy A53, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S21, Galaxy S23, and Google Pixel 5 and above. For tablets, it is the iPad Pro (3rd generation) or better, the iPad Mini (6th generation) or better, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 or better. Ruggedized devices built around a camera in that class behave the same way.
No additional hardware is involved. A team already carrying phones for the job is already carrying the scanner.
Without writing any code
The TireBuddy App captures the sidewall, tread, VIN, license plate, and odometer. There is no integration, no coding, and no configuration. It generates inspection reports your team can save, export, or send to the customer. Plenty of teams start here. They prove the workflow with real tires and real technicians, then move to the ToolKit once the data needs to sit in their own system.
Which approach fits your workflow
| Approach | How it goes in | Where the read happens | Best fit | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile SDK in your own app | A capture screen and a license key, inside an app you already ship | On the technician’s device | Teams with an app already in the hands of a workforce or customers | You need a mobile app to put it in |
| Web SDK in a browser flow | Embedded in your site or portal | In the browser, on whichever phone is to hand | Online stores and self-service journeys | Browser camera behavior varies more across devices than a native one does |
| Ready-made app | Nothing to build | In the app itself | Pilots, single sites, teams with no development capacity | Results live in the app’s reports until you export them |
| Server-side image processing | Post a photo to an endpoint | On a server, after the photo is taken | Back-office and batch work on images you already hold | No guidance while the photo is being taken, so a poor shot is only found later |
| Manual entry | Nothing to build | On a keyboard | A handful of tires a week | Every record depends on the person typing, and nothing verifies it afterwards |
The first three are the routes Anyline offers. The last two are the alternatives teams usually weigh against them.
What your engineering team will ask
Where the processing happens
TireBuddy ToolKit is built for on-device processing. The sidewall read happens on the phone in the technician’s hand, and Anyline does not store any data on third-party servers. For a security reviewer, that turns a long conversation about where tire and vehicle identifiers travel into a short one.
What comes back
The scanner hands the size to your application as structured values, so you decide where they land. Most teams write them to the record that already holds the VIN or the license plate. The tire, the vehicle, and the job become one row in your database. Nobody has to reconcile three fragments later.
What the integration involves
The capture screen is a component you place inside a flow you already have. The work is that screen, a license key, and the mapping from the returned values into your data model. There is no hardware to procure and no device rollout to plan. On a capture project, that rollout is usually the thing that sets the timeline.
What the scanner does not decide
The scanner reads what is on the sidewall. It does not judge whether a tire is safe, whether it is due for replacement, or whether the fitment was right in the first place. Those calls stay with the technician. The boundary matters while you are scoping, because it tells you which part of the decision your own software still has to carry. For the wear side of that decision, Anyline’s tread depth scanner measures remaining tread and can run alongside sidewall scanning.
Instant AI Tire Size Recognition from <br>Any Mobile Device
Automatically capture tire size information in real time with AI-powered mobile scanning. Reduce manual entry, improve accuracy, and accelerate tire inspections for retailers, workshops, dealerships, and fleet operators.
Frequently asked questions
How can I identify the size of a tire?
The size is molded into the sidewall and reads like 205/55 R16 91V. The first number is the section width in millimeters. The second is the aspect ratio, which is the sidewall height as a percentage of that width. R means radial construction. The number after it is the rim diameter in inches, and the last pair is the load index and speed rating. A tire size scanner reads the whole string with a phone camera.
Which platforms does the Anyline tire size scanner support?
Native iOS and Android, plus the cross-platform frameworks Flutter, React Native, Cordova, and .NET MAUI. Anyline also publishes a Web SDK for browser flows, which covers online stores and self-service journeys. On iOS, recommended hardware starts at the iPhone SE (3rd Gen) and iPhone 11. On Android, it starts at the Samsung Galaxy A53, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S21, Galaxy S23, and Google Pixel 5.
Does the tire size scanner need an internet connection?
TireBuddy ToolKit is built for on-device processing. The sidewall read runs on the phone itself, with no round trip to a server, and Anyline does not store any data on third-party servers. Your own application decides what happens next. Whether a captured size syncs at once or queues until the device is back online is a question for your backend.
What else can it read from the tire and the vehicle?
The same sidewall session returns the DOT/TIN code, serial numbers, and tire make and model alongside the size. TireBuddy ToolKit adds tread depth to a precision of 0.5 mm, VIN, license plate, odometer and driver’s license identification. Teams doing vehicle intake take the plate or the VIN first, then the four sidewalls. One visit then covers the vehicle and the tires on it.
Can I use a tire size scanner without building anything?
Yes. The TireBuddy App needs no integration, no coding and no configuration. It captures the sidewall, tread, VIN, license plate, and odometer, then generates inspection reports your team can save, export or send to the customer. That suits a pilot or a single site. The ToolKit becomes the answer when the data needs to live inside your own system, under your own screens.
Does it work on every tire?
Coverage is for passenger vehicle and van tires. The read depends on legible lettering. A sidewall caked in road grime or scuffed down to bare rubber may need a wipe first. That is the same condition a technician needs in order to read it, which makes it a practical limit and not a surprise. Commercial truck tires sit outside the current scope.
About the Author
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Valentyna Zhuk
Marketing Communications Manager
Valentyna Zhuk is Marketing Communications Manager at Anyline, where she leads press and content communications for the company's AI products, with a primary focus on automotive. She works closely with Anyline's product team to explain how the technology works in practice for the businesses that use it, including tire retailers and dealerships. She brings nearly two decades of international brand and marketing leadership to the role. Her articles cover the practical use of AI in the automotive industry.
