Sorta kinda. The new “Shade auto-smooth” in the context menu simply automatically adds the “smooth by angle” modifier, introduced in 4.1, to your object and you can adjust the angle from there, rather than under “normals” as it used to be pre-4.1. I believe it also automatically pins the modifier to the bottom of the stack, another useful change in 4.2, so you don’t have to worry about its position anymore.
The more destructive way of adding “mark sharp” to certain edges via the smooth option in the context menu has been removed, because it was so unpopular. Yet with the modifier you still have more flexibility with adjusting the angles at which blender shades smooth.
