The most amazing service after their search engine has been Google Photos. The way their deep neural net can identify objects in images is going to be unmatched for a long time to come.
I liked Mail and Maps once, but feel like after endless redesigns they got less useful, less responsive, less straightforward to use, etc.
Have you found a maps replacement that you like?
No. But I've lived in the same area for a while and know how to get around so it doesn't come up much. I use a dedicated GPS device in my car when I need it and prefer that to a smartphone app.
I've switched over to using Here Maps[1]. It's fast and doesn't hide controls, unlike the new Google Maps, and you can get fully offline directions in its app by downloading map sets ahead of time.
[1] here.com
have you tried maps in lite mode?
maps.google.com/?force=lite
I feel the same way, I moved to fastmail.com about a year and a half ago and I'm perfectly happy with it.