Yes, currently we have an automatically renewing subscription. This works better with family sharing etc.
Our sales model is the same though: whatever you unlock, you keep forever. That is different to most subscriptions.
If you don’t like subscriptions, you can either use the lifetime purchase, though that is more expensive, or you can get the subscription and cancel it immediately after the free trial. That way, it will stop at the end of the year, and you still get all the premium features permanently unlocked just as before.
Can you tell me where you saw the messaging about the old non-renewing setup? It would be good to get rid of that to avoid confusion.