Have not tried any of the development versions, yet, so if this idea has been implemented, already, I apologize.
While using V 5.1.9, I have found myself, several times, unclear about whether or not I am still in Place Symbol mode or in Place Wire mode. This could be significantly improved by making the icons, themselves, modal. That is, while in Place Symbol mode, do something to the icon/button to indicate that it is operating in that mode. Maybe change the icon background color, or draw an outline around the icon or change the icon graphic. Outline might be preferable as you would not have to pay nearly as much attention to color themes.
And a big thanks to all the contributors and developers who are putting so much effort into KiCad!
I use a recent 5.99 build and (at least in Eeschema) I do see the mouse cursor change according to the mode. At least for some modes. I am not so good at characterizing this…I will leave that description to someone who is closer to the details.
BTW selecting a group from the upper left selects only components which are fully within the selection window, while selecting from the lower right is a “greedy” select. (I love that term.) But I find that I am (I think always) using the greedy select. I hope that is not an indication of my own character.
Thanks. I can only check with 5.1.9. On mine, activating Place Wire does not change the cursor. The icon background does change from Very Light Grey to White and there IS a very light outline around the icon, I guess that they are so subtle that they were missed. :=(