That works until Google releases an incompatible change on the API. Then you either upgrade or are out of the app.

Worse is that the app will capture any link to the web maps, and AFAIK, you can't change your mapping app on Android.

I find it a bit surprising that such an old version of the app still works today, but the fact that they haven't broken the backend in over 3 years means I'm not too worried that they'll do so before my hardware bites the dust. (I'm expecting the shutdown of 3G to be what finally kills this non-VoLTE phone, though I am likely to stop using it as my primary phone before then.)

Thank you for reminding me I can do that... going to give it a try and see what I'm missing/forgotten, and what features I might miss.

Wish there was a VCS-ish way to get an intermediate version.