MapQuest Resists Donald Trump's Naming Decision to Become America's Most Downloaded Navigation App

MapQuest, a mapping app that rejected the Donald Trump administration's renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America, surged past competitors in the US to become the most downloaded navigation tool, multiplying its usage rate.

MapQuest's Rise to the Top

Refusing to comply with Donald Trump's executive order requiring federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America, MapQuest has become the most downloaded navigation app in the US, surpassing its competitors. Leaving giants like Google Maps and Apple Maps behind, the application claimed the number one spot on the Apple App Store charts as of Tuesday morning.

Tech Companies' Divergent Approaches

Google quickly caved to Trump's demand, showing the lake as Lake America to its US customers, while Apple is weighing whether to make a similar change under White House pressure. In contrast, the 30-year-old MapQuest has won massive support from users thanks to its determination to preserve familiar names.

Massive Spike in Usage Rates

MapQuest General Manager Doug Berger stated that the app's usage rate has reached approximately fifty times its normal level. Stating that hundreds of thousands of users showed they made the right decision by downloading the app this weekend, the company also offers users a tool to create their own lake names.

Public Opinion and Political Reactions

Polls revealed that Trump's effort to rename the lake is supported by only 14 percent of Americans. Meanwhile, protests and legal blocking efforts against the decision continue unabated in the Ontario region along the Canadian border and in US politics.