Apple changes name of Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ in maps app

The tech company Apple has updated the label for Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users of its map application in the United States, after direct lobbying by President Donald Trump.

Tuesday’s change took place on the same day that executive John Ternus became Apple’s new CEO.

Apple is now the second US-based tech giant to comply with Trump’s controversial executive order. On Saturday, Google also announced it had changed the name for US users on its highly popular Google Maps.

Trump’s order cannot compel private companies to change their naming conventions. It does, however, make a change to the US Geographic Names Information System, a reference guide that standardises how the federal government refers to geographical features.

Companies like Google reference the information system for their own maps.

Still, statements from Trump administration officials suggest the president has taken direct action to ensure private companies – which rely on the federal government for approvals and contracts – comply with the name change.

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that Trump “reached out to Apple directly” last week to request the lake’s name change on the Apple Maps app.

Apple has previously adhered to name changes ordered by Trump, including renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and switching the name of the Alaskan mountain Denali to “Mount McKinley”.

It is unclear whether Apple Maps is taking a similar stance to rival Google on the label change. Apple did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

In a statement on Saturday, Google reiterated that its maps adhere to the names listed in “official government sources”. As a result, US users see “Lake America”, Canadian users see “Lake Ontario”, and viewers in other countries see both labels.

But not all digital map companies are adhering to the change Trump implemented.

MapQuest, a website popular in the 1990s and 2000s, pushed back on the name change, writing in a now-viral tweet: “Name it whatever you want at your leisure.”

The company’s smartphone app is now listed as the top free application in Apple’s App Store.

Trump’s effort to change the name of Lake Ontario comes as relations between the US and Canada sour during his second term.

Shortly before his “Lake America” executive order, trade negotiations between the longtime allies floundered, resulting in the US imposing 50-percent tariffs on nearly $20bn worth of Canadian goods.

Canada has pledged to retaliate, imposing its own tariffs on US exports of the same value.

Lake Ontario sits between the two countries and takes its name from the Indigenous Wendat language. Trump, however, has sought to increase US influence across the Western Hemisphere, including by changing naming conventions and designating English as the official US language.