More things going wrong

If you’re a Mobot regular, you’ll be well aware that I like to take a moment every few months to have a good moan about the annoying things my phone – currently an HTC Desire HD – does. In the past I’ve scribbled Things going wrong, Annoying things – part 29 and Weird things my Yahoo! Mail app keeps doing.

I’m well aware that there are countless injustices and atrocities going on in the world, but my tongue is of course planted quite firmly in my cheek here. Let’s rant!

Skype

Oh Android Skype app, I hate you sooooo very much. Previously I’ve complained about being notified of messages I’ve sent, inconsistencies between my desktop Skype client and the app, calls not coming through, instant messages disappearing into the ether, incessant “low credit” alerts… the list is endless.

Just when I thought Skype had reached its irksome limit, a spanking new phenomenon has raised its hideous head. Sigh.

Say my phone is powered off (i.e. the bloomin’ battery runs out) or restarted, Skype will quite happily open again, and everything appears to be in working order.

However, I’m only half signed in. The Skype app recognises that I’m me, I can change my status and see my low credit (!!!WARNING: 74 PENCE!!!), but I can’t see my contacts or call/IM history. What the…?

So I sign out and open Skype again and I’m told that my password is wrong. Fantastic. I have no idea what’s going on and can only assume the Skype app developer team is staffed entirely by monkeys. Blind monkeys.

Facebook

I had plenty of good things to say about Facebook 1.8 when it launched back in December, but – and I knew this would happen – it appears that I spoke too soon.

Admittedly I horse the absolute crud out of the Facebook app; it’s my primary method of communication with a handful of folk. However, the number of Force Close messages I’ve had recently is pretty ridiculous. Usually they pop up after I’ve been staring at the “Loading…” screen for several minutes. Endless fun.

I also changed my password recently (as I often do) and now my contact pictures are all out of whack. My phone is able to reconcile only a few dozen Facebook and Google contacts, and it gets weirder: each time I change my password it matches a different few dozen. Good lord.

Oh, and a very minor observation: in terms of new messages (none? One? Two?), the Android notifications tab often disagrees with the Facebook sidebar thingy which in turn often disagrees with the little envelope at the top, meaning I often find myself scanning my inbox for a “new” message that doesn’t actually exist. Poor me, eh?

HTC Sense 3.0

You might recall I was quite chuffed with my December HTC Sense 3.0 and Android 2.3.5 update, describing it as an “early Christmas present” in A fresh coat of paint.

However (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?), lately I often see a “Loading…” message when I try to go back to my homescreen. It doesn’t seem to matter what I’m doing; browsing, Facebooking, playing a game… on leaving the app it has to load as if I’ve just rebooted my phone, and takes a good 30-45 seconds to settle. Bad times.

Twitter

And just for good measure, Twitter has started acting like a douche bag. On attempting to sign into the Twitter app, I'm told: "That account has already been added". Added to what, you ****ing piece of...?!

Prior to my HTC Desire HD I rocked an iPhone for several years and had approximately zero complaints. Bring on the iPhone 5, I say. Or maybe a Nokia Lumia 800, “LOL”. I crack me up.