Cursor Control Almost Never Activates

Hi, long-time Android Swiftkey user that switched to iPhone a year ago (11 Pro Max). Was thrilled when cursor control was added in, but ever since the addition, I've never gotten it to activate predictably. If I hold spacebar before typing any text, it activates properly. If I type a few characters, probably all good. But usually once I enter a word or two, a long-press does nothing. Haven't been able to find any info online about this, and none of the recent patches have changed anything. Any suggestions?

PS: I only have 1 language selected, and I have reinstalled multiple times.

Update: Upon further experimenting, it seems that hitting backspace before holding spacebar always makes it work. Hmm...