[iMore Question]

Did the latest update and the grey bar in the text message box appeared. So appears the update caused the problem. Many other forums have people with same experience. Work around is hit return to expand text box and you can see what you are typing. But update caused it definitely

[Ledsteplin]

That's the audio text feature. It's activicated by pressing the mic on the right side. Try swiping it out of multitasking, or like you said.