This is great for a few reasons. There are many annoying user-interface "issues" in the Google Maps JS, especially on mobile. For example on mobile devices, my

This is great for a few reasons. There are many annoying user-interface "issues" in the Google Maps JS, especially on mobile. For example on mobile devices, my wife goes absolutely insane when she's prompted to use TWO fingers instead of one to scroll around. I know it's an easy fix for google, but they're probably trying to adhere to some stupid material design standard. Second, Google already has too much data on people. I think it's been said before, but Apple doesn't really track people as invasively as Google. Third, as stated, there has desperately been a need for competition in this space. I hope that over time they introduce many of the other features that Google provides to make sure it's totally competitive.