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It Has Always Been Called ‘Gulf of America’
On Monday, Google announced that Gulf of Mexico would be renamed to Gulf of America, as demanded by Donald Trump.
That evening, in response to a post from @luckytran about this change, I wrote:
This will surely change as Apple bows to pressure, but for now, I'm sharing my appreciation.
I included screenshots of Apple Maps still showing Gulf of Mexico and a “No matching places found” error when searching for Gulf of America.
My appreciation was short-lived. Today, Apple bowed to the pressure:
I actually thought it would take Apple longer to acquiesce, that they’d employ some simple sabotage to slow things down, insist they needed to get “community input” or “global acceptance”, or merely needed to “follow procedures,” a process Apple knows quite well.
But no. They acted quickly, almost eagerly. Here you go, sir. Can I get you anything else, sir? Thank you, sir.
I understand that map names are driven by governmental decree, and, having been thus decreed, Google, Apple, and other map providers might feel they had no choice but to comply—though, as of this writing, only Google and Apple have done so.
Yet I can’t tell what consequences there’d be if they hadn’t complied. It appears there are no direct legal penalties for companies (or individuals) for simply ignoring the change. Apple and Google could have defied Trump and all he could do is impotently yell at them. Perhaps they are fearful of punitive action from Trump’s regime—punishing tariffs? mean tweets?—but they didn’t even test his resolve.
Tim Cook could have insisted that there are four lights[1] and defied Trump to call him a liar.
Instead, the rest of the world laughs as we insist it’s the Gulf of America.
As it always has been, of course.
Google Maps and Waze Sharing More Features
Umar Shakirk, writing for The Verge:
Google is updating its two navigation apps — Google Maps and Waze — with a slew of new features, including some changes that bring the two closer together.
I’m surprised Waze still remains a separate app, over a decade after it was acquired.
I admit, I often prefer Waze over Apple Maps. That’s partly because I started using it when Apple Maps, um, sucked and never fully broke out of the habit; and partly because I liked Waze’s ability to route around traffic hotspots, and report road closures, slowing traffic, and hidden police traps—all features coming to Google Maps:
One of the big updates here continues to integrate the biggest features from Waze directly into Maps. For Maps, improved Waze-like incident reporting adds larger icons to share updates like road closures, construction, speed cameras, or police presence. Other drivers will be prompted to confirm incidents with a tap.
Even if all the functionality of Waze were added to Google Maps, I still wouldn’t use it. I seem to have a natural aversion to most Google products (even Mail and Search, which I use regularly but reluctantly). Something about their design sensibilities rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps that’s true for others:
It can feel like Waze and Google Maps are on a collision course, but the two apps continue to remain separate. Can Comertoglu, group project manager for Google Maps, told The Verge at a press briefing on Tuesday that Waze users are very dedicated, saying, “They prefer some of the things that Waze does over Google Maps, and we know the reverse is true as well.”
My maps usage has started shifting away from Waze and back to Apple Maps recently, primarily driven (ahem) by CarPlay, as it often shows the places I was last looking at in iMessage, Calendar, or even searches, and offers it as a potential destination.
Waze and Google Maps will probably have to wait for Apple Intelligence for that.