Regarding your second point - yeah, that’s something that makes the AV almost frustratingly useless. And by the way - thanks for the hint about using the phone app’s voice recording functionality! I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s a great addition to my workflow.
But it’s not the app related issue, but the Advanced Voice Mode, but that’s just my guess.
Here’s what I found, guys - the developers snuck in a hidden shortcut! 
It’s not listed on the shortcuts screen:
If you press CTRL + [Win] + K, the search in conversations pops up! 