After Trump signed an executive order involving the adjustment of lake names, a United States map application MapQuest quickly became popular for refusing to follow through with the name changes. The app rose to first place on the US App Store overall rankings on Tuesday, while it was in eighth place the previous day.
Download volume has risen rapidly.
MapQuest stated on the social platform X that they would not change the names of the relevant lakes. In contrast, Google Maps was the first to adjust the names, and Apple Maps followed suit shortly after. As a result, users began to download MapQuest in large numbers to express their support for their approach.
Market intelligence agency Sensor Tower estimates that since the issuance of the executive order on August 27th, the number of downloads of MapQuest in the United States has been around 632,000 times. MapQuest has informed TechCrunch that the total number of installations in the United States and Canada has exceeded 1.5 million times.
Users start to directly provide feedback on product requirements.
The company stated that this round of new users does not merely stay at the download stage; many of them are continuously using the product and are actively submitting feature suggestions and bug reports.
MapQuest The general manager, Doug Berger, stated that the team has recently been receiving continuous messages on social media platforms and reviews in the app store, containing suggestions for new features and reports of issues. The company mentioned that a small team is working faster to address the specific needs raised by users.
In contrast to Google and Apple
Google explained last week that updates to map names are usually made in accordance with official government sources such as the U.S. Geographic Names System. Apple did not publicly explain the reasons, but reports suggest that the approach taken is roughly the same.
Compared to large tech platforms, smaller companies like MapQuest have more freedom in naming conventions. The report mentions that the company has not previously changed the name of the “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” and has also launched an online tool that allows users to set their own names for Lake Ontario before sharing them on social media platforms.
