Chess Puzzles - What Changed?

I have noticed that the chess puzzles have changed from trying to checkmate the opposing color's king to other things like blocking a checkmate on Your side or maybe capturing certain pieces or just making good moves in general it seems. Checkmating is definitely still there but it seems like you are trying to checkmate but you're actually on a puzzle that wants you to protect your king or maybe set up to snipe a certain rook.
That said, the only solution I can see is to tell one what the Theme is when a puzzle starts.
So, there is my perceived problem and solution. Has anyone one else on this forum noticed a change to the puzzles?

From my perspective the puzzles haven't changed as you describe. They've always been this way with regard to 'intent'. Like, "What are you trying to teach me here?" I'll complete a mate in two only to find I'm wrong. The 'correct' answer was mate in three. Or, the intent was not mate at all but a 5 or 6 move bloodbath where you are left with one more piece than the opponent. Would it kill them to give some kind of hint as to the intent of the puzzle?

You don't get hints when playing a game. It's best not to get a hint when doing puzzles. It's better practice. Might not be as much fun for some, but helpful in the long run.

I want my daily puzzle rating back..... you've caused me to spend less time on the app. That can't be good from a marketing perspective. Chess.com is about to have to just 'piss off' like so many other apps I have stopped using, because somebody ruined it trying to make it better.

Puzzles have never been just about checkmating. A puzzle is about finding the best move. A best move can be a checkmate, but also a favorable trading sequence that wins material. Lower rated puzzles often have a checkmate as a solution, or simply grabbing a hanging piece. Higher rated puzzles still frequently feature the same type of solution but can be harder because they require more steps to execute. But the higher you get, the more you’ll see puzzles that require more subtle solutions.

Showing the theme of a puzzle beforehand will never be implemented. Puzzles basically become meaningless when you already know the type of solution you’re looking for. It completely ruins the puzzle and makes solving them 10 times easier. As @Bur_Oak pointed out, in real games the players don’t get a notification when there’s a tactic to find. Not realizing there’s a tactic available is why they’re often missed. But when you show a player that exact same position asking them to find the solution they have no trouble finding it. Because they know there is a solution to look for. 

Whenever someone shares a puzzle that’s called the ‘hardest mate in 2 puzzle’ ever, or something like that, it’s almost never a hard puzzle to solve. Because you already know what to look for. Finding that same solution in a real game, on the other hand, can be insanely difficult. 

When I’m sharing an interesting position with others and, before they start solving, I also tell them the themes, there won’t be much of a challenge left. If you know beforehand that the relevant themes are Queen sacrifice and discovered attack, the time required to solve will drop by 80 or 90% easily. 

If you insist on knowing the theme for each puzzle you can always try the custom unrated puzzles. 

Regarding @open817 ’s comment. The way you’ve phrased it makes it sound like you found a solution that was a mate in two, but it was rejected because they were looking for a mate in three. You’re implying that you have found a better solution than the chess.com puzzle. That doesn’t ever happen. It just means that your idea was not really a mate in two, because you missed a defensive move for your opponent. 

You have made similar remarks in the past but the responses haven’t been informative enough to help you understand. Perhaps if you can give specific examples, it will be easier for the community to point out what you’re missing.

You mean the percentages that are aligned exactly under the words 'My Score'? Right under the words 'My Score' with the question mark next to it? Under the question mark that shows the text "Average score from Rated Puzzles" when you hover over it with your mouse?

I don't know. It's a bit of a mystery.