Hello @user87302 ,
From my understanding, yes this change was intentional- as there are now two different subscription systems running tangentially- one for email contacts, and the other for SMS contacts. In order to make SMS-only (no email required) contacts work in the system, other changes also had to be made to how the import system works, how contacts are displayed in lists, permissions settings, etc.
For example, you'll see that unsubscribed contacts will remain in lists, even after unsubscribing. Unsubscribed contacts are still considered inactive and can't be sent to, nor will they count toward billing. This also has the added benefit of maintaining the original list(s) the unsubbed contact was on, in the situation they accidentally unsubbed and need to be resubbed.
The Import/Export Activity page will still provide unsubscribed notifications and exportability, import success, as well as both import failure data and ability to either correct or ignore.
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