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MapQuest reaches No. 1 on U.S. App Store after refusing to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America"
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MapQuest surged to the top of Apple's U.S. App Store after refusing to adopt President Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America," while Google Maps and Apple Maps complied.
This is a single-source story carried only by TechCrunch, so corroboration is limited. The event shows how a smaller platform's editorial stance on geographic naming can drive massive user acquisition, with MapQuest gaining more than half its 2026 U.S. downloads in six days. It also marks a rare divergence in how major mapping platforms handle government-mandated name changes.
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MapQuest rose from No. 128 on August 28 to No. 1 overall on the U.S. App Store by September 1 after refusing to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America."
Google Maps and Apple Maps both adopted the new name, citing updates to official government sources such as the Geographic Names Information System.
MapQuest gained an estimated 632,000 U.S. downloads since the August 27 executive order, representing 56% of its year-to-date U.S. downloads.
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