diff --git a/native/profile/linked-devices-header-right-button.react.js b/native/profile/linked-devices-header-right-button.react.js
index b612b34a4..70f2d8ede 100644
--- a/native/profile/linked-devices-header-right-button.react.js
+++ b/native/profile/linked-devices-header-right-button.react.js
@@ -1,34 +1,44 @@
 // @flow
 
 import { useNavigation } from '@react-navigation/native';
 import * as React from 'react';
 import { Text, TouchableOpacity } from 'react-native';
 
 import { SecondaryDeviceQRCodeScannerRouteName } from '../navigation/route-names.js';
 import { useStyles } from '../themes/colors.js';
+import Alert from '../utils/alert.js';
+import { deviceIsEmulator } from '../utils/url-utils.js';
 
 function LinkedDevicesHeaderRightButton(): React.Node {
   const styles = useStyles(unboundStyles);
-  const navigation = useNavigation();
+  const { navigate } = useNavigation();
 
-  const navigateToQRCodeScanner = React.useCallback(
-    () => navigation.navigate(SecondaryDeviceQRCodeScannerRouteName),
-    [navigation],
-  );
+  const navigateToQRCodeScanner = React.useCallback(() => {
+    if (deviceIsEmulator) {
+      Alert.alert(
+        'Unsupported device',
+        "You can't access the QR code scanner on a simulator.",
+        [{ text: 'OK' }],
+        { cancelable: false },
+      );
+      return;
+    }
+    navigate(SecondaryDeviceQRCodeScannerRouteName);
+  }, [navigate]);
 
   return (
     <TouchableOpacity onPress={navigateToQRCodeScanner}>
       <Text style={styles.textStyle}>Add</Text>
     </TouchableOpacity>
   );
 }
 
 const unboundStyles = {
   textStyle: {
     color: 'headerChevron',
     fontSize: 16,
     marginRight: 10,
   },
 };
 
 export default LinkedDevicesHeaderRightButton;
diff --git a/native/utils/url-utils.js b/native/utils/url-utils.js
index 76dad957b..9c7218c33 100644
--- a/native/utils/url-utils.js
+++ b/native/utils/url-utils.js
@@ -1,81 +1,82 @@
 // @flow
 
 import invariant from 'invariant';
 import { Platform } from 'react-native';
 import DeviceInfo from 'react-native-device-info';
 import urlParseLax from 'url-parse-lax';
 
 import {
   natDevHostname,
   checkForMissingNatDevHostname,
 } from './dev-hostname.js';
 
 const localhostHostname = 'localhost';
 const localhostHostnameFromAndroidEmulator = '10.0.2.2';
 
 const productionNodeServerURL = 'https://squadcal.org';
 const productionLandingURL = 'https://comm.app';
-const devIsEmulator: boolean = __DEV__ && DeviceInfo.isEmulatorSync();
+const deviceIsEmulator: boolean = __DEV__ && DeviceInfo.isEmulatorSync();
 
 // ESLint doesn't recognize that invariant always throws
 // eslint-disable-next-line consistent-return
 function getDevServerHostname(): string {
-  if (!devIsEmulator) {
+  if (!deviceIsEmulator) {
     checkForMissingNatDevHostname();
     return natDevHostname;
   } else if (Platform.OS === 'android') {
     return localhostHostnameFromAndroidEmulator;
   } else if (Platform.OS === 'ios') {
     return localhostHostname;
   }
   invariant(false, `unsupported platform: ${Platform.OS}`);
 }
 
 function getDevNodeServerURLFromHostname(hostname: string): string {
   return `http://${hostname}:3000/comm`;
 }
 
 function getDevLandingURLFromHostname(hostname: string): string {
   return `http://${hostname}:3000/commlanding`;
 }
 
 function getDevNodeServerURL(): string {
   const hostname = getDevServerHostname();
   return getDevNodeServerURLFromHostname(hostname);
 }
 
 function getDevLandingURL(): string {
   const hostname = getDevServerHostname();
   return getDevLandingURLFromHostname(hostname);
 }
 
 const nodeServerOptions: string[] = [
   productionNodeServerURL,
   getDevNodeServerURL(),
 ];
 
 const defaultURLPrefix: string = __DEV__
   ? getDevNodeServerURL()
   : productionNodeServerURL;
 
 const defaultLandingURLPrefix: string = __DEV__
   ? getDevLandingURL()
   : productionLandingURL;
 
 const natNodeServer: string = getDevNodeServerURLFromHostname(natDevHostname);
 
 const setCustomServer = 'SET_CUSTOM_SERVER';
 
 function normalizeURL(url: string): string {
   return urlParseLax(url).href;
 }
 
 export {
   defaultURLPrefix,
   defaultLandingURLPrefix,
   getDevServerHostname,
   nodeServerOptions,
   natNodeServer,
   setCustomServer,
   normalizeURL,
+  deviceIsEmulator,
 };