Apple is renaming the Gulf of Mexico in Apple Maps… and is going further than Google
Shortly after Google Maps changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, Apple Maps is starting to do the same.
When Google rolled out the name change at the weekend, the company took a three-pronged approach which means three different naming conventions are used in different parts of the world. Having started to implement the name change itself, Apple is showing that it is willing to do more than Google by making the change global.
Google Maps now has multiple ways of referring to the Gulf of Mexico
Within moments of being inaugurated as US President earlier this year, Donald Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Sure enough, an executive order followed, changing the name to the Gulf of America -- but there has been the question about how most of the world will refer to it moving forward.
On a day-to-day basis, there will be some who use the new name, some who stick with the previous one -- but what about map services? Google previously stated that when the Geographic Names Information System was updated, Google Maps would reflect the new nomenclature. Now the name change has been implemented, but what you see will depend on where you are in the world.
Google Maps will honor President Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Denali to Mount McKinley
One of Donald Trump’s first pledges after being sworn in as the 47th president of the USA was to rename both the Gulf of Mexico and Denali. This was very quickly acted upon when he signed a slew of executive orders -- something the White House described as “honoring American greatness”.
Seen variously as controversial, symbolic, patriotic, confrontational and more, the changes of the names have sparked global debate. One question that has been raised a lot over the last week has been whether the likes of Apple Maps and Google Maps will implement the changes as well -- although not globally.