In a ridiculous move Google Maps users in the U.S. will now see the name “Lake America” instead of “Lake Ontario” for the Great Lake.
But — thank you, Apple — Apple Maps hasn’t hanged the name of Lake Ontario and still labels it as Lake Ontario. Reuters reports that Trump has “reached out to Apple directly” to change the name. Don’t cave to this nonsense, Apple, don’t cave!
Google said it made the change because the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” in the United States.
Google had this to say: Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see “Lake America,” those in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario,” and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names. These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now.
What’s more, as noted by MacRumors,MapQuest is in the spotlight this week after refusing to change “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” on its map. As of today, the MapQuest app is the top free iPhone app on Apple’s App Store charts in Canada and fourth on the equivalent U.S. chart.
Of course, the “Lake America” name change is the latest ridiculous — and totally unneeded — executive order by President Trump. And, of course, it further increases friction between the US and Canada.
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