That said, I do absolutely, 100% think the everything-is-now-done-through-the-search-box approach is remarkably horrible and unintuitive. I honestly thought that you couldn't customize directions any more. Hell, there were so many little features -- simple things like Search Nearby -- that I thought went away entirely. The UX is that terrible.
Want to customize the route your currently on? That's easy! Ok, so just close what your currently doing -- hey! Why are you looking in the settings? Why would settings be in Settings? Listen to what I'm saying! So, close out of the -- No! It's not in the Hamburger button. Settings aren't in the menu. Why would settings be in a menu? Pay attention! Exit navigation. Back out of the Directions screen, back out of the location screen. Now, see the single line search bar? Click on that -- but don't search for anything, there's a small button in the drop down. Click that! Congratulations! You've found the settings!
I just want to know how that UX meeting went. Settings!? In a menu!? No, no, no. Makes no sense from a user experience perspective.
One of my favorite use cases is having GMaps give me directions by public transit, especially if there's a metro, which is nice if you're in a new city and want to save a few bucks on taxis or Uber.
That said, they've definitely made a few changes I haven't been a fan of. For example, offline maps must now be refreshed once every 30 days, and if you're offline when the timer runs out you won't be able to see the map. (Previously there was no time limit.)