Apple apps have nothing to do with iOS. You can use many apps. I'm using 4 different map apps and Apple maps is not among them. Check out google maps for example or try to find one that local people used (I had good experience with TomTom in Europe). iOS has widgets on other screens, home screen is just apps launcher. Controls are opinionated indeed and I feel myself better in iOS world without that strange "back" button which can do anything. Not sure about animations, I think that there are settings in accessibility options for those, but I'm not sure, never was an issue for me.

Frequent updates seems to be a good thing. I don't update myself often, and my phone complains may be once a week or month, definitely not every day.