how is this app so bad



There are updates happening on the apps all the time. One thing is to make sure you keep up to date on the versions. Another thing that could impact things, is if you have both cellular and wifi active, the device might switch between data connections and could cause some app connectivity issues with the server.
Regarding the forums, the apps have a basic interface to the forum codes, so things like edit, quote and other rich posting options aren't available.