I think I've found the issue with 1). It did it again last night after editing bookmarks with another PC. The desktop versions work just fine, updating from sync as they should. The ipad version doesn't necessarily check very often, so doesn't update. I could force an update by closing the app properly (swipe up in recent app view), and then re-starting. There was a slight delay in start up I'd not seen before, no doubt due to it updating from sync.
So the issue is with the ipad version only. Android Mini also works fine, and updates with no issues.