move cursor after existing text on iphone 17.1.2

Since the iOS update a few weeks ago, editing text has become much more difficult. If I want to insert a few words in the middle of something I've already written, or go back to the end of what I've written and append to it, I tap the screen to the right of that word to move the cursor, and it often doesn't move the cursor. Instead, it highlights a whole word (without grab bars) and suggests other words I could replace it with. "Leave the word alone" is not an option. If I tap again, it selects the same word but with grab bars, so I can copy/paste/lookup/format/etc, but still no way to leave it alone and type after it. If I type a third time, it goes back to suggesting replacement words.

The best workaround I've found so far is to get to the "grab-bar" selection, move the beginning grab-bar as far right as possible so only one letter is selected, then retype that letter and go on with what I wanted to type after it.

Probably unrelated but coinciding with the same update, if I've tapped in a particular place in my text and that's not quite where I wanted to type, I can't move the cursor a few characters or a word away; it treats that as another tap on the same place. I have to tap somewhere several lines away, then try again to get exactly the right place.