I have heard a number of rumors over the years, of things in the beta stream that got taken out, or not in the beta stream that got put in for the GM, I would not count on the beta to be a foreshadow of what they will do in the next release.
They might just quietly put it back in for a future release, or they might bite down harder like a dog on a bone and start removing other things too... Look at the issue with the cover flow feature. I thought it was great, but ultimately learned to live without it. The smart playlists however are an integral part of my listening experience, that if they are **** bent on removing that, I will no longer have a desire to stay with apple. Their MUSIC PLAYER IS THE ONLY REASON I HAVE A MAC AND MAC PRODUCTS.
I've seen the 3 big giants of software (Apple, Google and Microsoft) dumb down and make every aspect of their software so ******** and so hard to use that I think they are going this route just because that's the new trend... as if some clown out there sold a book saying "the new generation is too stupid to figure out how to push buttons, so you need to take away all the buttons and put an accelerometer and microphone on the device so when they shake it and yell at it in frustration, it turns itself on and eventually figures out what they want.
For their music app, first google first took away the thumbs down (last time I checked, they ONLY had a thumb's up), then they took away the "recommended" section, instead forcing you to rely on a curated playlist by some clown 3000 miles away who appeals to the majority, not to you.
I get that apple wants to keep the interface simple and easy to use, but that thinking is about as dangerous as saying "nope, that 'check engine' light is not clear and dire enough.... let's just kill the engine and change the working to 'call your mechanic'....".
I would not base their future decisions on what they do right now with their beta program. Maybe the only solution is to have enough people yelling at them loudly and long enough that they will realize "don't mess with that feature".