Thanks for the feedback but the changes were absolutely necessary to keep the plugin supported and maintained for the future.
Plus, you might be interested to know that we added some features in the latest release that were only previously available in the PRO version. More features were ADDED than removed.
You can read more details here: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/free-version-is-now-useless/
I see. But features that now working in the free version are useless for me. This results in the poor rating I gave now for the free version of the plugin.
Thanks for your feedback and I understand. But please bear in mind that without the changes the plugin would likely just fade away and die. If you’re a long-time user of the plugin then I’d encourage you to consider supporting continued development so it’s around for many more years to come.