Thank you for writing this post! I agree with a lot of what you have written based here above. Clear has so far been my favorite app on my iPhone, and I hope the new version will not be forced upon us if it does not meet the standards we have come to expect from the Clear app. My recommendation would be to keep the current version of Clear available in parallel with the new version until the new version can fully satisfy the existing users and their particular needs and requirements. I just posted a similar piece of text which also deals with the transition to the new version, which explains things which may or may not be of current relevance to you:
In any case, I wish each one of us will be able to continue to use the existing version of Clear as long as we need or want independent of the development of the new, very different, version!