1. Instead of just removing the feature, hide the feature and call it unsupported so the users who remember the feature can't complain yet.
2. Then finally remove the feature in the next update, with justification that it was an unsupported option and used by few people, so users can't complain.
Frog boiled. With each update the company seems to be acting rationally on "metrics" and principles, but the decision was set internally before that.