diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/EmojiPalettesView.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/EmojiPalettesView.java
index 9779c68..f123735 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/EmojiPalettesView.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/EmojiPalettesView.java
@@ -162,9 +162,11 @@
                 addShownCategoryId(CATEGORY_ID_OBJECTS);
                 addShownCategoryId(CATEGORY_ID_NATURE);
                 addShownCategoryId(CATEGORY_ID_PLACES);
-                mCurrentCategoryId = CATEGORY_ID_PEOPLE;
+                mCurrentCategoryId =
+                        Settings.readLastShownEmojiCategoryId(mPrefs, CATEGORY_ID_PEOPLE);
             } else {
-                mCurrentCategoryId = CATEGORY_ID_SYMBOLS;
+                mCurrentCategoryId =
+                        Settings.readLastShownEmojiCategoryId(mPrefs, CATEGORY_ID_SYMBOLS);
             }
             addShownCategoryId(CATEGORY_ID_SYMBOLS);
             addShownCategoryId(CATEGORY_ID_EMOTICONS);
@@ -222,6 +224,7 @@
 
         public void setCurrentCategoryId(int categoryId) {
             mCurrentCategoryId = categoryId;
+            Settings.writeLastShownEmojiCategoryId(mPrefs, categoryId);
         }
 
         public void setCurrentCategoryPageId(int id) {
@@ -233,7 +236,7 @@
         }
 
         public void saveLastTypedCategoryPage() {
-            Settings.writeEmojiCategoryLastTypedId(
+            Settings.writeLastTypedEmojiCategoryPageId(
                     mPrefs, mCurrentCategoryId, mCurrentCategoryPageId);
         }
 
@@ -254,7 +257,7 @@
         // Returns the view pager's page position for the categoryId
         public int getPageIdFromCategoryId(int categoryId) {
             final int lastSavedCategoryPageId =
-                    Settings.readEmojiCategoryLastTypedId(mPrefs, categoryId);
+                    Settings.readLastTypedEmojiCategoryPageId(mPrefs, categoryId);
             int sum = 0;
             for (int i = 0; i < mShownCategories.size(); ++i) {
                 final CategoryProperties props = mShownCategories.get(i);
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/KeyboardSwitcher.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/KeyboardSwitcher.java
index 9760983..b7521b9 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/KeyboardSwitcher.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/KeyboardSwitcher.java
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@
     }
 
     public void saveKeyboardState() {
-        if (getKeyboard() != null || isShowingEmojiKeyboard()) {
+        if (getKeyboard() != null || isShowingEmojiPalettes()) {
             mState.onSaveKeyboardState();
         }
     }
@@ -316,19 +316,23 @@
         mState.onCodeInput(code, mLatinIME.getCurrentAutoCapsState());
     }
 
-    public boolean isShowingEmojiKeyboard() {
-        return mEmojiPalettesView != null && mEmojiPalettesView.getVisibility() == View.VISIBLE;
+    private boolean isShowingMainKeyboard() {
+        return null != mKeyboardView && mKeyboardView.isShown();
+    }
+
+    public boolean isShowingEmojiPalettes() {
+        return mEmojiPalettesView != null && mEmojiPalettesView.isShown();
     }
 
     public boolean isShowingMoreKeysPanel() {
-        if (isShowingEmojiKeyboard()) {
+        if (isShowingEmojiPalettes()) {
             return false;
         }
         return mKeyboardView.isShowingMoreKeysPanel();
     }
 
     public View getVisibleKeyboardView() {
-        if (isShowingEmojiKeyboard()) {
+        if (isShowingEmojiPalettes()) {
             return mEmojiPalettesView;
         }
         return mKeyboardView;
@@ -348,6 +352,10 @@
         }
     }
 
+    public boolean isShowingMainKeyboardOrEmojiPalettes() {
+        return isShowingMainKeyboard() || isShowingEmojiPalettes();
+    }
+
     public View onCreateInputView(final boolean isHardwareAcceleratedDrawingEnabled) {
         if (mKeyboardView != null) {
             mKeyboardView.closing();
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LastComposedWord.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LastComposedWord.java
index 642b3a4..2e9280c 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LastComposedWord.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LastComposedWord.java
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 package com.android.inputmethod.latin;
 
-import com.android.inputmethod.latin.utils.StringUtils;
-
 import android.text.TextUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -85,8 +83,4 @@
     private boolean didCommitTypedWord() {
         return TextUtils.equals(mTypedWord, mCommittedWord);
     }
-
-    public static int getSeparatorLength(final String separatorString) {
-        return StringUtils.codePointCount(separatorString);
-    }
 }
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LatinIME.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LatinIME.java
index ccdbd0d..dc96cd7 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LatinIME.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/LatinIME.java
@@ -1261,9 +1261,7 @@
             final boolean needsInputViewShown) {
         // TODO: Modify this if we support suggestions with hard keyboard
         if (onEvaluateInputViewShown() && mSuggestionStripView != null) {
-            final MainKeyboardView mainKeyboardView = mKeyboardSwitcher.getMainKeyboardView();
-            final boolean inputViewShown = (mainKeyboardView != null)
-                    ? mainKeyboardView.isShown() : false;
+            final boolean inputViewShown = mKeyboardSwitcher.isShowingMainKeyboardOrEmojiPalettes();
             final boolean shouldShowSuggestions = shown
                     && (needsInputViewShown ? inputViewShown : true);
             if (isFullscreenMode()) {
@@ -1329,7 +1327,7 @@
         if (visibleKeyboardView.isShown()) {
             // Note that the height of Emoji layout is the same as the height of the main keyboard
             // and the suggestion strip
-            if (mKeyboardSwitcher.isShowingEmojiKeyboard()
+            if (mKeyboardSwitcher.isShowingEmojiPalettes()
                     || mSuggestionStripView.getVisibility() == View.VISIBLE) {
                 visibleTopY -= suggestionsHeight;
             }
@@ -1712,7 +1710,8 @@
         mSpaceState = SPACE_STATE_NONE;
         final boolean didAutoCorrect;
         final SettingsValues settingsValues = mSettings.getCurrent();
-        if (settingsValues.isWordSeparator(primaryCode)) {
+        if (settingsValues.isWordSeparator(primaryCode)
+                || Character.getType(primaryCode) == Character.OTHER_SYMBOL) {
             didAutoCorrect = handleSeparator(primaryCode, x, y, spaceState);
         } else {
             didAutoCorrect = false;
@@ -2979,8 +2978,8 @@
         final String originallyTypedWord = mLastComposedWord.mTypedWord;
         final String committedWord = mLastComposedWord.mCommittedWord;
         final int cancelLength = committedWord.length();
-        final int separatorLength = LastComposedWord.getSeparatorLength(
-                mLastComposedWord.mSeparatorString);
+        // We want java chars, not codepoints for the following.
+        final int separatorLength = mLastComposedWord.mSeparatorString.length();
         // TODO: should we check our saved separator against the actual contents of the text view?
         final int deleteLength = cancelLength + separatorLength;
         if (DEBUG) {
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/settings/Settings.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/settings/Settings.java
index 1a0fecc..dc005bb 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/settings/Settings.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/settings/Settings.java
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@
     // Emoji
     public static final String PREF_EMOJI_RECENT_KEYS = "emoji_recent_keys";
     public static final String PREF_EMOJI_CATEGORY_LAST_TYPED_ID = "emoji_category_last_typed_id";
+    public static final String PREF_LAST_SHOWN_EMOJI_CATEGORY_ID = "last_shown_emoji_category_id";
 
     private Resources mRes;
     private SharedPreferences mPrefs;
@@ -383,15 +384,25 @@
         return prefs.getString(PREF_EMOJI_RECENT_KEYS, "");
     }
 
-    public static void writeEmojiCategoryLastTypedId(
-            final SharedPreferences prefs, final int category, final int id) {
-        final String key = PREF_EMOJI_CATEGORY_LAST_TYPED_ID + category;
-        prefs.edit().putInt(key, id).apply();
+    public static void writeLastTypedEmojiCategoryPageId(
+            final SharedPreferences prefs, final int categoryId, final int categoryPageId) {
+        final String key = PREF_EMOJI_CATEGORY_LAST_TYPED_ID + categoryId;
+        prefs.edit().putInt(key, categoryPageId).apply();
     }
 
-    public static int readEmojiCategoryLastTypedId(
-            final SharedPreferences prefs, final int category) {
-        final String key = PREF_EMOJI_CATEGORY_LAST_TYPED_ID + category;
+    public static int readLastTypedEmojiCategoryPageId(
+            final SharedPreferences prefs, final int categoryId) {
+        final String key = PREF_EMOJI_CATEGORY_LAST_TYPED_ID + categoryId;
         return prefs.getInt(key, 0);
     }
+
+    public static void writeLastShownEmojiCategoryId(
+            final SharedPreferences prefs, final int categoryId) {
+        prefs.edit().putInt(PREF_LAST_SHOWN_EMOJI_CATEGORY_ID, categoryId).apply();
+    }
+
+    public static int readLastShownEmojiCategoryId(
+            final SharedPreferences prefs, final int defValue) {
+        return prefs.getInt(PREF_LAST_SHOWN_EMOJI_CATEGORY_ID, defValue);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/suggestions/SuggestionStripLayoutHelper.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/suggestions/SuggestionStripLayoutHelper.java
index 8d2689a..faa5560 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/suggestions/SuggestionStripLayoutHelper.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/suggestions/SuggestionStripLayoutHelper.java
@@ -302,18 +302,19 @@
         final int countInStrip = mSuggestionsCountInStrip;
         setupWordViewsTextAndColor(suggestedWords, countInStrip);
         final TextView centerWordView = mWordViews.get(mCenterPositionInStrip);
-        final int stripWidth = placerView.getWidth();
-        final int centerWidth = getSuggestionWidth(mCenterPositionInStrip, stripWidth);
+        final int availableStripWidth = placerView.getWidth()
+                - placerView.getPaddingRight() - placerView.getPaddingLeft();
+        final int centerWidth = getSuggestionWidth(mCenterPositionInStrip, availableStripWidth);
         if (getTextScaleX(centerWordView.getText(), centerWidth, centerWordView.getPaint())
                 < MIN_TEXT_XSCALE) {
             // Layout only the most relevant suggested word at the center of the suggestion strip
             // by consolidating all slots in the strip.
             mMoreSuggestionsAvailable = (suggestedWords.size() > 1);
-            layoutWord(mCenterPositionInStrip, stripWidth);
+            layoutWord(mCenterPositionInStrip, availableStripWidth - mPadding);
             stripView.addView(centerWordView);
             setLayoutWeight(centerWordView, 1.0f, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
             if (SuggestionStripView.DBG) {
-                layoutDebugInfo(mCenterPositionInStrip, placerView, stripWidth);
+                layoutDebugInfo(mCenterPositionInStrip, placerView, availableStripWidth);
             }
             return;
         }
@@ -328,7 +329,7 @@
                 x += divider.getMeasuredWidth();
             }
 
-            final int width = getSuggestionWidth(positionInStrip, stripWidth);
+            final int width = getSuggestionWidth(positionInStrip, availableStripWidth);
             final TextView wordView = layoutWord(positionInStrip, width);
             stripView.addView(wordView);
             setLayoutWeight(wordView, getSuggestionWeight(positionInStrip),
@@ -373,9 +374,9 @@
         // Disable this suggestion if the suggestion is null or empty.
         wordView.setEnabled(!TextUtils.isEmpty(word));
         final CharSequence text = getEllipsizedText(word, width, wordView.getPaint());
-        final float scaleX = wordView.getTextScaleX();
+        final float scaleX = getTextScaleX(word, width, wordView.getPaint());
         wordView.setText(text); // TextView.setText() resets text scale x to 1.0.
-        wordView.setTextScaleX(scaleX);
+        wordView.setTextScaleX(Math.max(scaleX, MIN_TEXT_XSCALE));
         return wordView;
     }
 
@@ -545,8 +546,24 @@
 
         // Note that TextUtils.ellipsize() use text-x-scale as 1.0 if ellipsize is needed. To
         // get squeezed and ellipsized text, passes enlarged width (maxWidth / MIN_TEXT_XSCALE).
-        final CharSequence ellipsized = TextUtils.ellipsize(
-                text, paint, maxWidth / MIN_TEXT_XSCALE, TextUtils.TruncateAt.MIDDLE);
+        final float upscaledWidth = maxWidth / MIN_TEXT_XSCALE;
+        CharSequence ellipsized = TextUtils.ellipsize(
+                text, paint, upscaledWidth, TextUtils.TruncateAt.MIDDLE);
+        // For an unknown reason, ellipsized seems to return a text that does indeed fit inside the
+        // passed width according to paint.measureText, but not according to paint.getTextWidths.
+        // But when rendered, the text seems to actually take up as many pixels as returned by
+        // paint.getTextWidths, hence problem.
+        // To save this case, we compare the measured size of the new text, and if it's too much,
+        // try it again removing the difference. This may still give a text too long by one or
+        // two pixels so we take an additional 2 pixels cushion and call it a day.
+        // TODO: figure out why getTextWidths and measureText don't agree with each other, and
+        // remove the following code.
+        final float ellipsizedTextWidth = getTextWidth(ellipsized, paint);
+        if (upscaledWidth <= ellipsizedTextWidth) {
+            ellipsized = TextUtils.ellipsize(
+                    text, paint, upscaledWidth - (ellipsizedTextWidth - upscaledWidth) - 2,
+                    TextUtils.TruncateAt.MIDDLE);
+        }
         paint.setTextScaleX(MIN_TEXT_XSCALE);
         return ellipsized;
     }