Well to be fair to the OP the third party keyboards on iOS are rubbish. They are buggy and they keep defaulting back to the stock keyboard.
Also, how do you know that they are not functioning as a key logger?
Did you read the warning when you download any keyboards? Provides a third party access to every keystroke you type? That sounds like malware to me. That scared me off from loading any iOS keyboards.
iPhone said:
Full access allows the developer of this keyboard to transmit anything you type, including things you previously typed with this keyboard. This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address.
Seriously, to me, cursor keys & backspace key is a NEED not a want. Every time I time forum comments on an iPad (or my iPhone, which I still use), I get frustrated about how difficult it is to correct mistyped words. It shouldn't be that hard. My choice is either try to position the stupid cursor precisely with my finger (which is tough when you can't see where your finger is touching, especially near the top of the screen), or just delete and start over.
As somebody who went from ipad to note tablets the main reason had nothing to do with keyboards. .seriously? If you want multitasking and extra storage sure but keyboards?
Yeah, split screen with email side-by-side with internet is nice to have, as is being able to pop in a 128GB microSD card. But the keyboard is what really drove me over the edge, after being an iPad user since the launch of iPad 1.
I just don't understand why Apple, with their focus on "It just works" doesn't add cursor keys. There is plenty of room on the iPad screen to make a more functional keyboard. Every iOS update, I thought "better keyboard" would be one of the features. Nope. Then with iOS8 and "custom keyboards", I thought "This is it". Nope.
Did I mention a BT keyboard is tons cheaper and solves his issues?...To me, this would have been a better option for the OP than forking out another few hundred dollars on a tablet. Common sense I suppose?
I already have a MBA11, I don't need something essentially the same size (ipad+keyboard) that is a weaker tool. I didn't "fork out another few hundred dollars". I had an iPad3, and was waiting for the Air2 as my next tablet upgrade. Instead, I jumped ship (and saved a few hundred dollars, actually!).
Common sense, you know?
To me, a BT keyboard actually erases the convenience/functionality that makes a tablet the right choice over a laptop. Ipad+Keyboard is more inconvenient than a laptop, because the weight is all wrong.