If you head to Apple Maps today, you’ll notice that Apple has started renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The move follows Trump’s order last week to change the name as part of an ongoing trade dispute with Canada.
The change, which was first spotted by Bloomberg, applies for Apple Maps users in the United States. Apple Maps users in Canada will still see the “Lake Ontario” name. Apple Maps users elsewhere around the world will see both names.
Google Maps changed Lake Ontario to Lake America several days ago. At the time, Google said that its policy is to use the names assigned by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said yesterday that Trump had “reached out to Apple directly” about making this change. That conversation seems to have led Apple to follow suit and change the name in Apple Maps as well.
MapQuest, meanwhile, said this week that it refuses to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, which has led to a surge in downloads.
The change appears to be rolling out to Apple Maps users gradually. On my iPhone, I still see Lake Ontario, while others on the 9to5Mac team already see Lake America.
When Trump ordered the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” last year, Apple also followed suit on Apple Maps.
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