For your app-roval - Fenix for Android

I suppose when you wake in the morning, bleary-eyed and groggy, the first app you hit on your phone (after you silence that godawful killjoy alarm) is the app you can't live without. For me, it's Fenix for Android. I know that the official Twitter app has come a long way in terms of abilities and design but I just love Fenix more. Fenix is one of those third party Twitter clients that just works without a need for drama. Carbon was nice, Falcon was too (when it doesn't blow its Twitter tokens) and it broke my heart to stop using Twicca but Fenix has a freshness and look that screams "I JUST WANT TO DO THE BEST JOB POSSIBLE AT IMPRESSING YOU!". It has never force quit for me, ever. Nor have I been left for long for patch updates for errors in the latest update to come through. From its clean look (see the top most image), to how it quickly gets new features added to it soon after the official client gets them to the fact that all the updates and feedback info is only available on Google Plus (bless the developer for keeping the homefires burning over there), there's nothing I don't like about it. That you have to pay for it suggests that the developer either feels very confident you'll like it or is being incredibly brave/stupid. They're right to feel confident.

I didn't set out to be dependent on a Twitter client app. I sort of fell into it gradually. I always claim that I don't spend my day glued to my phone and usually am the best at protesting my innocence against such scurrilous comments. But really, I do spend my day glued to it. It is my connection to the world. When you're a person who doesn't really like sports, "lad"/"bro" culture or internet hivemind think, then the fact such a person spends their time drinking at the Powerhose-5000 water pipe of the internet is a contradiction. Hey, I like the come one, come all aspect of social media that Twitter espouses. If I didn't, how would I learn anything on the internet, what with all the books and libraries being done away with these days? Anyway back to my Twitter problem. I love clicking the links, replying to my friends and followers and generally marvelling at the smartness and stupid of civilisation as contained with a 5 inch touchscreen. I am a voracious consumer of information. I read over people's shoulders on the bus as they read their newspapers. I pick up free magazines in the doctor's office and learn about Miley Ray Cyrus' latest problems. I read the warranty card on my new kettle in English and French (I know a smattering of French) to see what I might not know. So when someone wrote an article on this new Twitter thing, I paid it no mind. "I get everything I need from my RSS feeds. Google Reader is my friend! (I'm still bitter)" I said to myself and others. What could a timeline of nothing but people's personal comments do for me? Soon though, I joined and other than a couple of bouts of imposed exile from the site, I have always found my way back to it. When Android devices became a thing I could buy, I found the first thing I downloaded (after the initial update service was finished with the stock apps, that is) was the Twitter app.

For you to understand why Fenix is the app I can't live without, I need you to understand what happened the last time I woke up to find I had no internet access. My phone's last update crippled mobile data so I could only rely on the house WIFI. So I got up, blinked, crawled out of bed and turned on the WIFI and launched Fenix. Hmm, curious, all the images (avatars, in-tweet pictures) all have X's over them. Swipe down. Nothing. Swipe down. Nothing still. Check the notification bar. WIFI symbol is missing. I check my tablet. Same thing. I unplug the router, wait, plug it back in, wait and then return to my phone. Nothing. Pretty soon, I'm distracted and have let my breakfast go cold. Surely it will just take time for the router to start making connections again?

This is how I spent the rest of the day.

Sad, I know but it's in my nature to be overly reactionary (I am Irish after all). How will I know how the latest episode of my favourite show ended? What happened to that local politician I hate and how they're dodging the latest scandal? Is there a new buzz word I should know about now that I'm over 30 and need to keep up with what kids are saying these days?!! Is Kanye still making crazy statements!?? HAVE CATS BEEN ALLOWED TO MARRY DOGS YET!!!!??!!

The answer to all of those questions was provided when I got back into the house and I saw in my notifications:

Ahhh, peace at last.

Five minutes later, I read an article about climate change deniers and swore I'd take a break from Twitter for a while. I also swore I'd join a gym and that too hasn't happened yet.

If you're interested, check out the Google Play Store and download it. (Please note that it costs around €5/$4 to purchase it)