Apple has followed Google’s lead and officially changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its Apple Maps service less than a week after President Trump ordered the change.
Apple Maps users in the United States will begin to see Lake America, not Lake Ontario — one of the five Great Lakes in North America — when using the website or mobile app. The change will only be shown to users in the United States. Apple Maps users in Canada will continue to see Lake Ontario, while those outside the two countries will see both names.
The change is in response to an executive order signed by Trump on August 27 that gave the Interior Department 30 days to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming service and other federal databases.
“In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that the Lake officially be renamed as Lake America,” the order reads.
Trump’s directive — and Apple’s and Google’s compliance — has escalated an already strained relationship with Canada after trade talks between the two countries broke down.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Google Maps explained its reasoning for the change, noting in its announcement last week that it updates names to reflect changes in official government sources such as the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
However, not every map service has adopted that same policy. MapQuest said that it would not change the name of Lake Ontario on its maps, choosing to continue using the name that people are familiar with. (It also did not change the name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America last year.)
Apple’s and Google’s actions over the name of this lake have driven a significant boost in users to MapQuest. Downloads of the so-called OG of mapping services have skyrocketed, pushing the iOS app to the No. 1 position in the U.S. App Store’s Top charts. That even put MapQuest ahead of perennial chart-topper ChatGPT as of September 1.
MapQuest also reached the No. 6 position overall in Google’s Play Store across both apps and games. And the company doesn’t appear to be budging. It posted on X a GIF of an apple, with the line “Them Too.” In another post showing a screenshot of MapQuest as the No. 1 downloaded app, the company wrote. “The people have spoken. We are working.”
There is precedent to Apple’s and Google’s deference to Trump. Last year, both of these tech companies changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America after that name-changing order by Trump.
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