MapQuest stood up to President Donald Trump, and now its app is reaping the rewards.
The “OG of online mapping,” as the company calls itself, announced on Thursday that it would not change the name of Lake Ontario on its maps to Lake America, despite Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming service. As a result, MapQuest’s mobile app downloads soared, sending the iOS app to the No. 4 position on the U.S. App Store’s Top Charts for apps (not including games) as of Monday morning on the U.S. east coast.
MapQuest also reached the No. 8 position overall in the U.S. App Store across both apps and games, and it became the No. 1 Navigation app in the United States.
I desperately need to get off Google Maps, especially now that it shows Lake America for me up in Canada.
Unfortunately MapQuest has virtually no support for biking/transit/walking, driving is the only option. It also lacks support for collaborative lists, which my partner and I use extensively. I’m still trying to find a viable alternative, happy to take recommendations if they have these features.