GWR iOS App - Being forced to log in every time

[angled]

I am a regular user of the GWR app, using it to buy several tickets per month. I've been doing this for years and it has worked well enough. I particularly value the Apple Pay integration.

But something has gone VERY wrong in the last month or so. It seems that almost every time I open the app to do something meaningful - eg to buy a ticket or to access a previously purchased ticket to add to the Apple Wallet - I discover that I have been logged out.

This never used to happen - I'm pretty sure I have gone MONTHS without being forced to log in, whereas it's now happening more than once a week.

Is it just me? Are other people being forced to log in regularly? Is it deliberate? Why? What on earth is going on?

 

[Egg Centric]

Have you contacted their technical support? I doubt they'll be of use but you never know...

 

[angled]

Have you contacted their technical support? I doubt they'll be of use but you never know...

I will do - but was first trying to figure out if I'm the only person it's happening to. Seems so...! In which case I'll maybe reinstall the app first, if only because it's inevitably going to be the first thing they tell me to do.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Have you updated to IoS17 ? seemed to cause a few problems with the LNER app until it was updated

 

[angled]

Yep. Happened both before and after the upgrade to iOS 17. I’ve reinstalled the app. Let’s see.

 

[Bevan Price]

Is your browser / operating system deleting cookies, etc., when you close it ? That can affect the need to log in on some sites.

 

[angled]

This is with the iOS app, although I guess being simultaneously logged in through my browser may be an issue. Who knows.

Anyway - I deleted and reinstalled the app on Saturday. And I was forced to log in again yesterday. And again today. So I can rule out the version of iOS (it happened before and after the 17 upgrade (and the multiple micro-upgrades to 17.0.3)... and it still happens after deleting and reinstalling the app.

And by 'it' I mean: when I try to view my ticket it will let me, if it has already been downloaded, but it will eventually say "SIGN-IN TO REFRESH YOUR TICKETS" at the bottom, and the tell-tale sign there's an issue is that, if I try to add the ticket to Apple Wallet it immediately says 'Ticket failed to add'. If I sign in to the app, the Apple Pay integration works just fine.

I'm genuinely surprised nobody else is seeing this as I'm entirely unconvinced there's anything unusual about my set-up.

I'll raise an issue with GWR (somehow) and see what happens...

 

[Techniquest]

You may find that some of us don't visit this part of the forum often, so didn't know it was just them having the same sort of problem!

I happened to be popping in on this section and saw the thread, I have to log in multiple times per day sometimes and it's a bit frustrating. Especially if you were logged in, then the guard comes round to inspect tickets and you have to wait for it to log you in again. Not often much of a delay doing so, but if the signal is dodgy then it's not ideal!

I guess if it's an extra security feature to keep my tickets a bit safer, then that's a good thing.

 

[angled]

THANK YOU!!! I thought I was going mad!! It's an immense relief to know that I genuinely am not the only person this is happening to.

Reminds me of this cartoon: https://xkcd.com/979/

I messaged them using their WhatsApp service today, and they told me they would pass on my observations to their team. My expectations are low...

 

[Techniquest]

I would not expect much of a response to be honest, it does sound like it's potentially a software bug that might not be fixable without breaking something else.

Like yourself, I have been using the GWR app for quite some time, since before they stopped issuing Nectar points for buying tickets, as I find it better than the TfW app. We'll be off-topic if I start discussing that, I am not known for making quick points! So it's really useful for me to have an app that works the way it's expected to!

The whole logging in frequently thing is a bit of a First World Problem, naturally, but it's still frustrating. Hopefully there's a fix for it!

 

[angled]

Indeed. It's not the worst thing in the world. But it IS super annoying. And I would bet good money it's a bug. I mean: what kind of psychopath would do this deliberately??

 

[Techniquest]

Indeed. It's not the worst thing in the world. But it IS super annoying. And I would bet good money it's a bug. I mean: what kind of psychopath would do this deliberately??

There are some strange people out there, so it is a possibility! It could just be someone who's left the app development team in a bad way and wanted to frustrate them, who knows?

 

[WelshBluebird]

I get the same issue with the Android app (and have done for ages). One of the reasons I don't use it that often now.