MapQuest climbs to top navigation app after keeping Lake Ontario name
MapQuest's decision not to rename Lake Ontario on its maps led to a surge in downloads, making its iOS app the number-one navigation app in the United States.
MapQuest announced Thursday that it would retain the name Lake Ontario on its maps despite a presidential executive order directing a change to Lake America. Following the decision, the company's iOS app rose to the No. 4 spot on the U.S. App Store’s Top Charts for apps (excluding games) and reached No. 8 overall across all categories. It also became the leading navigation app in the United States and attained the No. 2 overall position in Canada’s App Store.
The firm said it received "hundreds of thousands" of new downloads and that usage spiked to 50 times its usual level. Data from market-intelligence firm Sensor Tower showed 184,000 global and 162,000 U.S. downloads during the week of Aug. 24, each more than ten times the prior week’s figures, with U.S. daily downloads up 128% from Aug. 26 to Aug. 30.
"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, MapQuest general manager. "Hundreds of thousands of people signaled to us this weekend that we got it right by downloading our app."
MapQuest also launched an online tool that lets users assign a custom name to Lake Ontario and share the result on social media, echoing a similar feature released after a prior name-change order for the Gulf of Mexico. Google Maps confirmed it will implement the presidential directive for U.S. users, while Apple Maps has not yet announced a plan to rename the lake.
The surge comes amid broader trade tensions between the United States and Canada, including recent tariff measures. MapQuest, now owned by advertising firm System1, has been downloaded 687,000 times worldwide in 2024, a 29% year-over-year increase, according to Sensor Tower.