In short, this is the end of the road (for now) for millions of freeloaders like me, because flash-lite is worse than a coin-toss, it gives you the same, cheerful, 1000000%-certainty replies, but it hallucinates constantly, and so badly that it's just a waste of time to constantly guess when it might NOT. But I see google reasons, like all other ai-giants, they want to force people into the endless subscription model for something that is rapidly becoming indispensable, and why start fleecing the sheep tomorrow, if you can start NOW.
Starting Thursday, October 9, Google will limit the free Gemini app to its smallest model, Flash-Lite. Flash and Pro will no longer be available without a subscription. Google AI Plus also loses Pro, and subscribers will get the date by email. AI Pro subscribers gain Deep Think, which is currently limited to AI Ultra.