Apple Maps switches Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' in US
TL;DR
- Apple Maps relabeled Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' for U.S. users on Tuesday, days after Google Maps made the same change under a Trump executive order.
- Canadian users still see 'Lake Ontario' and users outside the U.S. and Canada see both names displayed together.
- MapQuest refused to rename the lake and hit No. 1 on Apple's free App Store, with more than 100,000 downloads on Sunday alone.
Apple Maps users in the United States opened the app on Tuesday and saw 'Lake America' where 'Lake Ontario' used to be, MacRumors reported. Google Maps had made the same change earlier in the week, following an executive order from President Donald Trump and an update to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.
The relabel is regional. American users see 'Lake America.' Canadian users still see 'Lake Ontario.' Users elsewhere in the world see both.
MapQuest declined to move. 'We saw the president signing the name change executive order, and we had a very quick conversation and immediately came out with a simple statement: We're not changing it,' said Doug Berger, general manager at MapQuest. The company posted a screenshot on X of the lake still labeled 'Lake Ontario' with the caption 'We're not changing it,' then launched a name-your-own-lake generator with the body of water preloaded as 'Lake Are We Doing This Again?'
The reward for staying put was substantial. CNN reported that MapQuest was the No. 1 free app on Apple's App Store by Tuesday afternoon, 'overtaking ChatGPT and ESPN Fantasy Sports.' Forbes noted 'more than 100,000 downloads on Sunday alone, its best day in a decade.'
Originally reported by macrumors.com
Read the original article →Original headline: Apple Maps Follows Google in Renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' for US Users