I remember when compact was hidden - apparently this was a change driven by telemetry. It was possible that there's an overlap between those who use compact and those who turned off telemetry. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar also occurs with Pocket being left on too.

If compact breaks in a future update, it'll probably be removed altogether. At that point, best option would be userchrome customisation.

IIRC, this change was made ahead of the impending UI overhaul. This combined with the Windows 11 getting bigger touch-friendly UI elements understandably didn't sit well with many people.