Apple Maps Labels Lake Ontario “Lake America” for U.S. Users

Apple Maps has begun showing Lake Ontario as “Lake America” to users in the United States, following an executive order signed by Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake. The lake, located between New York state and Ontario, Canada, retains the name “Lake Ontario” for Apple users outside the United States. Apple reportedly considered whether to adopt the new designation after Trump personally asked the company to make the change. Trump said the name change was “complete, ratified, and binding” after both Apple Maps and Google Maps adopted the U.S. designation. However, the United States cannot require Canada or other countries to use the new name. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the renaming effort. He said the lake’s name comes from the language of the Indigenous Wendat people and predates both Canadian Confederation and the Declaration of Independence in the United States. Trump’s order described the change as a way to honor the contributions of the American people and the country’s history. The timing came amid an escalating trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa. According to The Guardian, trade talks broke down late the previous month, after which the United States imposed a 50% tariff on several Canadian imports. Canada responded with tariffs on hundreds of U.S. goods. Google Maps made a similar change earlier in the week. Google said U.S. users would see “Lake America,” Canadian users would see “Lake Ontario,” and users elsewhere would see both names, based on designations used by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. Not every mapping service followed the order. MapQuest publicly said it would continue using “Lake Ontario,” and the app subsequently rose to the top of Apple’s App Store rankings in the United States.