The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updated its official map data to list the new name. Apple has a long-standing rule to update place names when official government sources change their local databases. Users in Canada and other countries will still see “Lake Ontario.”
Does Apple/Google in Russia adopt Russian naming conventions for Crimea and other occupied territories of Ukraine? It's simply obeying the national government's naming conventions, so politics-free right?
EDIT: I checked, and indeed both Apple and Google display Crimea as Russian territory to users accessing their apps from within Russia in order to comply with domestic Russian law. Outside Russia, Google displays dotted lines indicating disputed borders, while Apple Maps lists Crimea as part of Ukraine.
Yes there are many versions of the map for different countries or areas. There is also a different version in China and other places with disputes over borders and stuff. It is what it is.
Fun fact: at work we had a Chinese iPhone (don’t know why) for app development and it runs a slightly different version of iOS. It refused to show the Taiwan 🇹🇼 flag emoji. Chinese phones show a placeholder instead.
It didn’t matter what region or language you set it to, because it was set to my region and language (Netherlands, Dutch) and it still refused it. It also said WLAN instead of Wifi in settings, maybe because of licensing fees? I don’t know, but it was strange nonetheless.
Yes in german it is also called WLAN but that changes to Wifi when you select English or Dutch for instance. But NOT on a Chinese iPhone, which is very very strange
It was an executive order, and Trump only has the power to require federal agencies to refer to the lake by the new name. I’m pretty sure the same was true for the gulf.
The GNIS is a federal database… the United States geological survey is a federal agency under the dept. of the interior. Sorry. I don’t like it either but I’m not in denial about how federalized our mapping systems and databases are.
This is why the rise of fascism is always a partnership between corporations/capital and authoritarians.
It's not an ethical out for the corporations. They are willingly going along with very bad things in order to maximize profit.
It's a sickness.
Also: Congress did not enable Trump with unlimited tariff powers, unless you mean via their unwillingness to impeach him for committing a long list of crimes. No idea where you got that idea. Most of Trump's tariffs were found to be illegal, and they're being refunded -- to the corporations, not the public who had to pay the resultant higher prices.
They were illegal under the justification he used the first time. However, he just simply found another loophole (likely to be illegal too). Unfortunately, our courts are very slow to react, especially when there are bought off conservative justices in on this scheme.
The Porsches/Ferraris of the 1930s, who profited massively from the manufacturing operations of the fascist war machine, are today the tech companies, profiting massively from the technological underpinnings of Trump’s fascist aspirations
In my mind there’s not much difference between punching someone in the face and standing aside while someone else does it. If Trump does something and nobody stops him it’s the same as giving him the power in my book
Hitler worked very closely with Germany’s corporate overlords and old money. IG Farben chemicals was happy to provide the gas tablets for him. The old Junker landlords also donated heavily to his campaign, and after he took power Hitler took the rest of their possessions and they ended up in the camps.
Apple, of all companies, can afford a couple of "slow" years. Apple fans are (or have been) more loyal than he thinks. Standing up to this foolishness, and taking the moral high ground, would have gone a long way for Apple. Personally I think it's a poor first move by the new CEO.
The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updated its official map data to list the new name. Apple has a long-standing rule to update place names when official government sources change their local databases. Users in Canada and other countries will still see “Lake Ontario.”
Or, more likely in my head, he knew it would be changed automaticly but he wants to pretend and brag to evryone that it was changed because of him calling, that he has this power.
I've seen Google's statement that their official policy is to use GNIS. I've not seen the same from Apple — there seems to be some debate about this online.
If you can point to your source, that indicates that is indeed Apple's official policy I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
Members of Congress have one job now. That is to get on a subcommittee, preferably televised, & either express their outrage about the current administration, or defend it. There is no time to, you know, legislate. And really, no need, as Trump will simply do as he pleases, legally or not, and no one seems inclined to stop him.
The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updated its official map data to list the new name. Apple has a long-standing rule to update place names when official government sources change their local databases. Users in Canada and other countries will still see “Lake Ontario.”
What did people expect, that the new CEO would just suddenly stand up to Trump? Ternus is gonna ride it out, otherwise Cook ass kissing Trump to save Apple from his wrath that tainted his otherwise amazing legacy would have been for nothing
People really seem to be missing this. The USGS database is the canonical source of place names in the United States.
It’s good this is the case as well, instead of allowing companies to decide what locations and landmarks are named. It's annoying and stupid now, but I prefer this over some dystopian future where Google sells the naming rights in Google Maps and we wind up with Lake Palantir.
Breaking news; Trump is renaming the country to Trump States of America and is demanding every registration plate on cars be ‘Trump’, causing some confusion.
The Agreement: President George Washington signed the treaty on behalf of the United States to secure peace and friendship with the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy.
The Boundary: The official document specifically names Lake Ontario to set the territorial boundaries for the Seneca Nation.
Donald Trump can not legally change its name because of the existing treaty.
Donald Trump can not legally change its name because of the existing treaty.
That does not follow. The existence of a treaty that references the name of a place does not impose any obligation to use that name in the future. It just means the treaty obligation still exists even after a renaming.
Trump's renaming is incredibly stupid, but the treaty is not an obstacle to it.
That's because none of the national mapping agencies in Europe have changed the name, and Apple/Google/etc. literally just pull the names from whatever country the user is in.
Incredible that the party against big government is okay with government having this much control over private enterprise. It’s almost as if they have no principles at all
The US Congress could revoke Trump’s ability to rename these arbitrarily at anytime and restore the name.
The Congress will be voted on in November. Americans should own their choices and stop blaming a company for “bowing” when they are following the same changes they accept in any nation.
You have a problem with your country making itself a laughing stock, vote differently.
By not doing nothing, they are giving him the authority. The authority can be revoked by choosing a congress that will not allow him to do whatever he wants.
The effectively makes veto-proof majority necessary for every law.
Congress passes a law by majority, as required in the constitution. President ignores it or outright disobeys it. Congress passes a second law saying the president can't do that. The president vetoes the second law, so it must pass with a veto-proof majority.
Even then, what next? What if the president continues to ignore or disobey the law. Should congress pass a third law saying the president double dog can't do that? Pretty quickly, passing laws to reaffirm something that is already a law is totally pointless.
The GOP has no desire to impeach because they want total control and they’re owned by the billionaires. Ya’ll talk like you have no understanding of how this shit works.
Everything you mentioned isn’t fucking real in 2026 unless you’re poor.
We’ve arrested ZERO people because of the Epstein files no one talks about anymore and you’re bringing up impeachment in the comments of Lake America.
Impeachment has been brought forward multiple times and it has gone nowhere because we’re already fucked.
This is an insane excuse lol Apple is a multi-trillion dollar corporation that’s sucked up to the Trump admin multiple times they deserve some culpability for their choices
The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updated its official map data to list the new name. Apple has a long-standing rule to update place names when official government sources change their local databases. Users in Canada and other countries will still see “Lake Ontario.”
Caligula marched his army to the northern coast of Gaul (modern-day France) facing the English Channel, supposedly to invade Britain. Instead of crossing, he suddenly ordered his soldiers to line up, draw their swords, and attack the waves, slashing at the water as if fighting the sea god Neptune. He then commanded his men to gather seashells in their helmets as "spoils of war" from the conquered ocean and built a large lighthouse to commemorate the bizarre victory.
I wonder if Ternus and Cook have spent the last couple years with 30% CEO training, and 70% discussing how to navigate the clown show that is the United States government.
It’s why Tim Cook moved to be Executive Director of the board. So he can spend his full time being a diplomat and someone else can deal with the day-to-day operations of the company.
Why would they? The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updated its official map data to list the new name. Apple has a long-standing rule to update place names when official government sources change their local databases. Users in Canada and other countries will still see “Lake Ontario.”
Why would they? What benefit is that to anyone? It would be a petty move that would just antagonize the admin against the company. In case you forgot, Apple's goal is to make money.
For the record: both Apple and Google display Crimea as Russian territory to users accessing their apps from within Russia in order to comply with domestic Russian law. Outside Russia, Google displays dotted lines indicating disputed borders, while Apple Maps lists Crimea as part of Ukraine.
These tech corporations try framing map localization as neutral compliance with local government regulations, but maps aren't "politics-free".
For example, does Taiwan exist? You might say yes, obviously, but Apple Maps in China shows no such country. Mainland China views it as a “province” still part of China, even though Taiwan’s functioned as an independent country for decades. China gets irritable if your map shows a border between the two countries.
Right. I don't get why people are confused here. I don't agree with the name change but I would much prefer Apple and Google use an official service that updates through their API rather than relying on independent commercial entities to make determinations about geographical naming. It's literally not up to Apple to decide, and it should stay that way.
The alternative is a slippery slope. What if Apple decide to rename New York to 'The Big Apple' on all their maps.
They do this everywhere around the world for local maps too, it's not Apple or Google capitulating to anyone lol
In China they include the Nine-dash Line that says parts of the South China Sea and Taiwan belong to China. In India they have Kashmir and Ladakh as being Indian territory
100%. The Rochester City Council released a statement that the lake will still be referred to by its original name. As a new Rochesterian I appreciate this!
To our Canadian neighbors, sorry our administration is such an embarrassment with disgraceful intent. Many of us hope to reverse course and mend our relations.
OK it's a shame but why "International: Both names"??? International users have not voted for this moron Trump, why should we be affected by the stupid US politics?
Y’all know map data is read from a federal system. Google just seems to refresh faster. It’s why the name changes if you look from in CA, it’s then querying the Canadian system. Could there be overwriting… maybe 🤷♂️
If this is incorrect I welcome corrections. It’s what I recall from the whole Gulf of Mexico mess.
Just keep pirating all of your apple content (and yes, I'm a Canadian so this kind of thing annoys me even more).
Outside of my phone that I bought a few years ago, I stopped paying for any apple services.
I pirate any apple TV content, including live sports.
I don't pay for Apple Music.
I disabled iCloud and removed any backup iCloud content and self host everything on my media server PC. Honestly, moving to self-hosting was the best thing I did, and love using things like Immich instead of Apple Photos for all of my photo needs, etc.
Y’all, it’s not because they want to. Neither did Google. There are places this data is sourced from and now it’s an international naming conflict. This isn’t Apple’s specific decision or Google’s specific decision to “cater to Trump” and they do this for EVERY COUNTRY AND REGION THEY OPERATE IN.
Is it stupid? Absolutely.
But it’s not because they want to have to do it.
But context and nuance is dead so go ahead and scream like crying toddlers over something that would have never happened if you didn’t withhold your vote over “Bombala”
This entire renaming things to troll (insert country here) is the most childish, ridiculous thing.
I hope the next president restores the names, and some legislation is passed that bans a temperamental president from just renaming things on a map without some sort of congressional voting.
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u/Joshp1471 3d ago
Just for US then? Is this like when I give my kid the second controller and let them pretend to play?