Not true. I've used it on about 1100 miles of travel so far. I know exactly what version I have.

I misspoke above however, when claiming the Navigation app was still in the app listing. It isn't. However, if you already had a Navigation shortcut on your Android Home screens before the Maps update, on most versions of Android the Google Maps update did not remove those existing shortcuts. It did remove the separate listing for Navigation view from the app listing though. I was wrong about that. I didn't notice that because I still had the shortcut on my Home screens.

That being said, I don't use the Navigation shortcut anymore after the new update. As I see it, everything that can be done from the Navigation shortcut can be done from the main Maps screen, with the added benefit of having your Starred Favorites and Recent Searches available in a single click from the main Map screen while they are no where to be accessed if using the Navigation shortcut.