I hold my phone horizontally so there's no need to zoom. I can see everything.
I mean, some of this is just math. The screen is small, it's not going to be possible to see and use the site. Either you're zoomed out and can "see" things, but only the general outline and structure, or you're zoomed in so you can read them all and interact with them. I'll grant that it's going to feel different, especially if you've spent years getting used to it one way and now it's another way, but I'm not sure how it's even possible that anyone was accomplishing these two mutually exclusive things simultaneously on their phones.
I dont know what change you made but are you absolutely certain that you can't make that change without changing the desktop view for mobile users? Also, can you make an upload image feature for the mobile view?