Apple has officially changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its Apple Maps service, following Google’s lead less than a week after President Trump issued an executive order mandating the change. This alteration will be visible to Apple Maps users in the United States, while Canadian users will continue to see “Lake Ontario,” and users outside the U.S. and Canada will see both names. The change complies with Trump’s executive order, which directed the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in U.S. geographic naming services and federal databases within 30 days, citing the lake’s economic importance to the nation [https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/01/apple-follows-google-in-adopting-trumps-lake-america-name/].
The decision by Apple and Google to adopt the new name has exacerbated tensions with Canada amid stalled trade talks. In contrast, MapQuest has opted not to change the lake’s name, maintaining “Lake Ontario” on its maps. This stance has driven a significant increase in MapQuest’s user base, propelling its iOS app to the top of the U.S. App Store’s Top charts and surpassing even ChatGPT in downloads as of September 1. The company’s decision has been met with public support, as evidenced by its rising popularity on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This move by MapQuest follows a similar precedent set last year when both Apple and Google changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” in response to a previous Trump directive.