MapQuest is back, topping App Store charts after 'Lake America' snub

MapQuest is making headlines again, 30 years after launch, for refusing to rename "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" on its map after an executive order signed by President Trump. Since making a strong statement on X , MapQuest's iOS app has been downloaded "hundreds of thousands" of times and soared to the top of the United States and Canadian Apple App Store charts, according to the company. As of this writing, the MapQuest app is #1 on Canada's App Store and #4 on the U.S.'s App Store .

After President Trump signed the executive order last week, Google Maps was swiftly updated with the "Lake America" name over the weekend. As of midday August 31, Apple Maps continues to have the "Lake Ontario" moniker, but reportedly , the Trump administration has reached out to Apple directly asking it to make the change. MapQuest was quick to say it would not change the historical name of the lake, which is similar to the approach it took when the Trump administration renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America last year via executive order.

We're not changing it. pic.twitter.com/NdeE9v2BNO — MapQuest (@MapQuest) August 27, 2026

We're not changing it. pic.twitter.com/NdeE9v2BNO

"We took the same approach we did with the Gulf of Mexico: be part of the conversation, and give people an app that keeps the names they're familiar with," said Doug Berger, General Manager of MapQuest said in a statement. "Hundreds of thousands of people signaled to us this weekend that we got it right, by downloading our app."

Also similar to the Gulf incident, MapQuest followed up with its own lake-name generator tool that lets anyone "rename" Lake Ontario and share their creations on social media.

Launched in 1996, MapQuest was one of the first mapping and navigation services on the web and was super popular when one still needed to print out directions before heading out on a road trip (or any trip, really). That was before the proliferation of apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze and the like, which dominated the space after smartphones with always-on data and accurate GPS became ubiquitous. Like those other navigation apps, MapQuest is free to download on iOS and Android, and it features cute "questie" characters — including a unicorn, ogre and knight — that can be your sidekick as the app provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination.