It’s funny that MapQuest is now the most popular app in the Apple App Store, since most people last thought about it when they were printing directions. In no way because of a new product. Not because a famous person backed it. Because of a lake.
When President Trump signed an order telling people to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” it happened during a trade dispute with Canada that was already on edge. The administration was very clear about why: the U.S. didn’t plan to do much business with Ontario anymore. It was the kind of political move that seemed more symbolic than useful. It turns out, though, that symbols can move markets and app charts.
MapQuest didn’t talk about it in public for very long. The business put up two words on social media on August 27, the same day the executive order was signed: “We’re not changing it.” That pretty much sums up the whole point. There is no long press release. There was no carefully worded corporate hedging. It was just a clear position taken in public.
Any way you look at it, the response was shocking. In just a few days, hundreds of thousands of people downloaded the app. The company confirmed that usage went up to about 50 times its normal level. Apple’s App Store now has one more free app than any other, MapQuest. It beat out ChatGPT and ESPN Fantasy Sports by Tuesday afternoon. It got eighteenth place on Google Play. That’s a big change for a mapping service that started in 1996 and has been made fun of as an old-fashioned tool for most of the last ten years.
Take a moment to think about what MapQuest did here. The business didn’t run a campaign. It wasn’t put together. It picked a name—a place name that has been used for generations—and kept it on its maps. Doug Berger, general manager of MapQuest, explained the strategy this way: “Join the conversation and give people an app that keeps the names they know.” The company also made a tool that let people change the name of the lake to anything they wanted. This seemed like a smart way to acknowledge how silly the whole situation was without preaching about it.
Google Maps went in a different direction. The platform said it would show “Lake America” to users in the US and keep showing “Lake Ontario” to users in Canada. By Tuesday, Apple Maps had changed the name on its web version, but some phones were still showing Lake Ontario. This suggests that the rollout was either difficult or cautious. Doug Burgum, the Interior Secretary, told Fox News that the president had talked to Apple directly about the change. This made an already strange week even stranger.
There’s a sense that people responded to MapQuest not just out of nostalgia, though that’s clear—but out of something more like relief. It can be tiring how eager the internet is to align with power. The fact that MapQuest said no seemed normal to a lot of people. “MapQuest is that girl,” one TikTok user said in the slang of the morning.
The app is embracing its retro look while also being aware of it. When you sign up, you’re asked to pick an avatar. You can choose from a unicorn or a wizard holding a fireball. It’s fun in a way that big mapping apps don’t usually let themselves be.
It’s really not clear if the surge will last. Google Maps has reviews, business listings, and traffic data that have been built in over years that are hard to get elsewhere. That gap is clear to MapQuest, which said on X that it is looking at user feedback for improvements. But at least for now, the app that used to print out directions to Grandma’s house is having a moment. For what it’s worth, Lake Ontario is still Lake Ontario on that map.
