@Manz - I was thinking that maybe the update you applied was corrupt in some way, and re-installing may solve the problem. But yes, it will download the latest version.
Alternative Twitter apps, as said above, there are lots! Personally I use TweetDeck for Android, but I have used Twicca in the past and that's also very good. TweetDeck has an option to add a facebook notifications feed, which I like, otherwise I'd still be using Twicca.
They atre both worth trying. Twicca in particular has lots and lots of options and features for Twitter users.