To display the QR code the app requires a 3G/4G signal also it won't work if connected to WiFi. Closing the app completely on the phone and then reopen it fixes this usually, but if the problem still exists then uninstall the app and reinstall. 99.9% of time the code then shows up. It's not always the apps fault it can be your own mobile phone, cache etc. Everyone has problems with other apps and/or browser every now and then. Not defending the TM at all but it's also worth noting not everyone is tech savvy either so they may have not been aware or capable of solving this
I am reasonably tech savvy, as I'm an IT consultant, albeit not in the world of mobile phone apps. Our phones are 4G. The QR code does not appear regardless of whether I use wifi or stop/re-start the app.
My initial take when making the original post was that the train manager must be under a misapprehension that QR codes had been rolled out to all digital railcard holders. Replies on this thread suggest that’s not the case. Even then, my view was that it’s the rail industry’s problem to fix, not mine to waste time on.
However, I just wasted 30 minutes I won’t get back trying to reinstall this app, as suggested.
The instructions in the app told me that to re-add my railcard, I must get a new "download code”. What followed was incorrect. There was a button to press to log in and get the code, but it sent me around in a never-ending circle. What you must do is ignore the button and log in via the menu option.
I then learnt that the password that I would ordinarily have constructed was invalid, so railcard.com must impose some additional rule on password format. Sure enough, a password-reset request revealed that they are one of those annoying sites that pointlessly insist on a special character being present.
Once in, I tried again to get the “download code”. There was a terminology issue here as, in the “Manage Digital Devices” link, the terminology changed to “Request a new token for your Railcard”. That will confuse some people.
I then encountered an error that I already had two devices logged. Yes indeed; one of them was the very device I was using! Whoever coded that should have skipped that validation if the current device id is one of the two logged devices.
The two logged devices had the same manufacturer and the two long manufacturer references listed bore no relation to our handset brand names. It was hard to work out which device was my phone, and which my partner's. Google helped here, and I was able to remove my own device, and then re-add it with the download code/token.
And the upshot? Still no QR code.
I’ve spent enough time on this now. If Avanti or whoever want to prosecute us for using their digital railcard product exactly as we’re supposed to, then I’ll see them in court.