I figured out what makes it fail to enter text in Conversations (possibly applies elsewhere): If you already have text IN the text entry field BEFORE you open this vkb. When you launch it, it'll properly keep the text that's already there, but it'll fail to add the next text. (Doesn't matter if the already there text was entered with hardware keyboard, or by the same virtual one just a few seconds earlier.)

Just did preliminary X-Terminal test - vkb doesn't seem to want to enter text there. I actually DID get it to enter text in X-Term once, I just don't know how I did it/why it worked that one time.

To clarify: If I have "Test" typed in the Conversations - say, I use the stock conversations program to send a text message - and type "Test" (with virtual or hardware keyboard, doesn't matter which). Then I close the Virtual/Hardware Keyboard, and click on the text box there "Test" is already entered, to bring up the vkb again. Then I type "blah" so the whole text looks like "Testblah". When I exit the VKB this time, only "Test" remains.

- Edit -

The icons are fine, but I'll be happy to draw you a generic backspace arrow if you'd like.

As for taking care of the people who want to use FastSMS stand-alone, I agree. I'm just wondering if perhaps FastSMSEvo can be a dependency for stand-alone FastSMS (and then some of the necessary code would get moved to FastSMSEvo from FastSMS), and then people who install FastSMS (and thus FastSMSEvo) could have an option in the settings to use the FastSMS keyboard just system-wide or just for FastSMS (or these settings can be available in a Settings menu applet...). Either way though, I realize it's extra difficulty to do that. I think the way you have it right now is just fine.

Also, re: orientation - I know. I assure you I was keeping it very definitively portrait/landscape. None of the wierd flipping happened during flat 'unknown' orientations. (But like I said, the really weird flipping was a one-time thing near as I can tell, and the click-out-of-keyboard->everything-goes-landscape-until-keyboard-closes->goes-back-to-portrait thing is minor and isn't a problem.)