I had to uninstall Tidal HiFi to log back into Strawberry Tidal
I don't understand what's this issue with the tidal-hifi app at all. I can use both at the same time. Assuming you mean this app.
again reinstalling and now I can no longer update any playlists, authors, tracks, or albums. The tab closes instantly after starting a search, being impossible to give any results. Only the search for a particular row or author works.
Which version. Say the full build filename.
Have you deleted/renamed these user config folders whenever you have reinstalled Strawberry, even once as a test? It is not normally needed but something in the database might be messed up considering all the weird issues you're having.
~/.local/share/strawberry
~/.config/strawberry
Rename them to something. Launch Strawberry, login to Tidal and see if the problems still persist. If they do then undo the renaming and you'll lose no settings.
I give up my collection in Strawberry.
??
Don't worry about losing it since it is always synced back your Tidal account.