Matrix tool "broken" in new release

[KRobin]

I queried FTDNA about this issue. Here is the answer I received:

Thank you for contacting FamilyTreeDNA. We appreciate your feedback and apologize for the trouble you experience with the Matrix tool. Unfortunately, we were only able to accomplish so much during the update that took place in July and the Matrix is certainly one of the tools that we hope to update in the future.

The names are sorted alphabetically by the last name. The up/down buttons to rearrange the matches you want to compare were removed during the update because they did not always work correctly. We apologize if this feature was one that you used frequently.

We will be adding more information about the Matrix in the Help Center and possibly even including a video tutorial on how to use it.

We can only hope this gets fixed soon...but I'm not holding my breath!

[mgmcdonaldx]

I noted those same two "un-improvements" back on July 5 when the changes were made. I haven't found a solution and nothing's changed since then.

[KRobin]

I have now. I also wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this problem or has perhaps found a solution. So far I've found only one post in all the forums that objects to this change. He received no reply.

[Jim Barrett]

Have you used the 'Customer Support' link at the top of the page to report this?

[KRobin]

Since the latest FTDNA release this year (2021), the Matrix tool has been "un-improved." First, the order that matches are selected for the matrix no longer corresponds with the order that these names appear in the matrix box. I've been unable to figure out what determines this re-ordering. Second, the up-down buttons are gone. Of course, the result of moving the order of the selected matches up and down is likely to produce unpredictable results, given the first problem described above.

These changes totally break the way I've used the Matrix tool in the past. It is now virtually useless in my research. Is there any hope of restoring the original features?

P.S. I could find only one brief reference to the Matrix tool in FTDNA help pages. Is this an indication that the tool is going away altogether soon?