Text Tool Controls
Something simple, but ironically ESSENTIAL that's missing from the new Text Tool but is in Legacy Title Tool is the ability to move text or elements by holding a modifier key (command/control). I constantly have to click out of the window, switch to the arrow tool, then click back in, otherwise I would type an "a" for example.
Also, the Transform + 180 shutter speed trick to get motion blur on clips doesn't work on the new Text Tool, but DOES WORK on Legacy Titles. I use this function a lot for GFX sliding in and out. Another option, of course, would be to have a motion blur toggle in the Motion control tab ala after effects.

-
Steve Grubel commented
Thank you, Dacia! The "Escape" key works to get out of it, although you still need to switch to the arrow tool and then back to type tool, as opposed to just holding and releasing the command key in the Legacy Title tool. But that's definitely helpful and better than what I'd been doing.
As for the shutter angle trick, I think Jarle taught it at MAX in 2016, and basically you just add a Transform effect, deselect the "Use Composition's Shutter Angle" then set the Shutter angle to 180. After that, any motion keyframes in the Transform effect will have a motion blur. Except when I do this to the Type Tool text, it basically wipes the text off. So if I try to start text out of frame LEFT, I add a keyframe 10 frames in where I want it to land, then at frame 0 drag the X position to the far left. Instead of moving, the right side of the text becomes cropped.
-
Hi Steve,
If you're typing and need to switch to the Selection (arrow) Tool or any of the other tools, you can hit Escape or Command /Control + Enter to get out of typing mode and then hit the keyboard shortcut for the tool you want. No need to click away or have an extra letter added to your text.
The commands to get out of typing mode to switch to a different tool via keyboard shortcuts were based on the commands in Photoshop and After Effects.
Once you're in Selection mode, you can nudge the text or shape layer with Command / Control + Arrow for 1 pixel and Command / Control + Shift + Arrow for 5 pixels.
And you can customize your keyboard shortcuts by using the Keyboard Shortcut Editor to your preference.
Lastly, I'm not familiar with that shutter speed trick, but have you dropped the effect into the layer stack in the EGP itself? You can drop any effect into the EGP and it will affect any of the layers below it. Or if you only want the effect to render on only a subset of layers, you can put them in a group. :)
Hope this is helpful,
Dacia