--- title: The first thing Apple’s new CEO did was rename a... description: Apple Maps now labels Lake Ontario as "Lake America" for US users, following an executive order signed by President Trump amid a US-Canada trade dispute over... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The first thing Apple’s new CEO did was rename a Canadian lake | daily.dev og:description: Apple Maps now labels Lake Ontario as "Lake America" for US users, following an executive order signed by President Trump amid a US-Canada trade dispute over... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/iMb1Vtyh4.png og:image:alt: The first thing Apple’s new CEO did was rename a Canadian lake og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The first thing Apple’s new CEO did was rename a Canadian lake **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Apple Maps now labels Lake Ontario as "Lake America" for US users, following an executive order signed by President Trump amid a US-Canada trade dispute over tariffs. The change rolled out on new CEO John Ternus's first day, though outgoing CEO Tim Cook retains responsibility for government relations. Canadian users still see Lake Ontario; everyone else sees both names. Google made the same change on August 29, citing its policy of following official government sources, while MapQuest publicly refused and saw downloads surge roughly 50x, briefly becoming the top free app in both US and Canadian App Stores. Ontario's premier installed a physical sign reading "Lake Ontario. Now and Always," and a Reuters/Ipsos poll found most Americans oppose the renaming. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why does Apple Maps show Lake Ontario as Lake America for US users? Apple Maps changed the label for US-based users following a federal executive order signed by President Trump on August 27, which gives the Interior Department 30 days to update the Geographic Names Information System, the database that sets standards for official US maps. The order followed the collapse of US-Canada trade talks and does not apply outside federal agencies, so Canadian users still see Lake Ontario and other countries see both names. _Developers tracking how platform-level naming and mapping data can shift overnight can follow updates like this on daily.dev._ ### Did Google Maps also rename Lake Ontario to Lake America? Yes, Google renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America on August 29, citing its long-standing policy of following official government sources, three days before Apple made the same change. Both companies had previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico on the same basis, a move that led Mexico to sue Google. _Anyone comparing how major platforms handle government-driven data changes can track these stories on daily.dev._ ### Why did MapQuest's app usage spike after the Lake Ontario renaming dispute? MapQuest refused to rename Lake Ontario and rebuilt a tool from the earlier Gulf of Mexico dispute letting users rename the lake themselves, which drove a surge in downloads. Appfigures recorded about 80,000 iOS downloads in the US and Canada in a single day, up from a daily average of roughly 500 earlier in August, and MapQuest became the number one free app in both countries' App Stores. _Readers weighing how companies handle politically charged product decisions can find similar stories on daily.dev._ --- Tags: [#apple](https://daily.dev/tags/apple) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The first thing Apple’s new CEO did was rename a Canadian lake","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4"},"datePublished":"2026-09-03T09:13:30.899Z","dateModified":"2026-09-03T10:44:11.515Z","description":"Apple Maps now labels Lake Ontario as \"Lake America\" for US users, following an executive order signed by President Trump amid a US-Canada trade dispute over...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ed46c90abc9855a0d32f9cba05eecd13?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ed46c90abc9855a0d32f9cba05eecd13?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"apple","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The first thing Apple’s new CEO did was rename a Canadian lake"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-first-thing-apple-s-new-ceo-did-was-rename-a-canadian-lake-imb1vtyh4#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does Apple Maps show Lake Ontario as Lake America for US users?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Apple Maps changed the label for US-based users following a federal executive order signed by President Trump on August 27, which gives the Interior Department 30 days to update the Geographic Names Information System, the database that sets standards for official US maps. The order followed the collapse of US-Canada trade talks and does not apply outside federal agencies, so Canadian users still see Lake Ontario and other countries see both names. Developers tracking how platform-level naming and mapping data can shift overnight can follow updates like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Did Google Maps also rename Lake Ontario to Lake America?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, Google renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America on August 29, citing its long-standing policy of following official government sources, three days before Apple made the same change. Both companies had previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico on the same basis, a move that led Mexico to sue Google. Anyone comparing how major platforms handle government-driven data changes can track these stories on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did MapQuest's app usage spike after the Lake Ontario renaming dispute?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"MapQuest refused to rename Lake Ontario and rebuilt a tool from the earlier Gulf of Mexico dispute letting users rename the lake themselves, which drove a surge in downloads. Appfigures recorded about 80,000 iOS downloads in the US and Canada in a single day, up from a daily average of roughly 500 earlier in August, and MapQuest became the number one free app in both countries' App Stores. Readers weighing how companies handle politically charged product decisions can find similar stories on daily.dev."}}]} ```