MapQuest is now the No. 1 US app after bucking Trump’s ‘Lake America’ renaming
TechCrunch · 2026-09-02
MapQuest became the No. 1 overall app on the U.S. App Store by September 2, 2026, after refusing to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America," a change directed by President Trump's executive order issued on August 27. Unlike Google Maps and Apple Maps, which capitulated to the order, MapQuest publicly announced its stance on X (formerly Twitter), leading to a significant surge in downloads from consumers supporting the company. The app's U.S. App Store ranking climbed from No. 128 on August 28 to No. 1 across both apps and games by Tuesday of that week.
Since the executive order, MapQuest has seen an estimated 632,000 U.S. downloads, according to Sensor Tower, with MapQuest reporting over 1.5 million installs across the U.S. and Canada combined. Over half of MapQuest’s year-to-date U.S. downloads (56%) occurred between August 27 and September 1, with downloads increasing 123% day-over-day during this period. MapQuest GM Doug Berger noted high user engagement, with many new users submitting feature requests and bug reports. The company, now owned by System1, has previously taken similar stands, such as continuing to call the Gulf of Mexico by its original name.