MapQuest, who knew? A week ago, the app seemed like just another long-forgotten relic from the dotcom glory days. Now, it’s
after the company ignored an executive order from President Donald Trump by refusing to relabel Lake Ontario as Lake America. And the company apparently is going to keep riding the wave.
The 30-year-old app announced that it was bringing its navigation service to Android Auto in an experimental phase. Thus, drivers can use MapQuest on their dashboard infotainment screens rather than Google Maps if they have Android Auto enabled.
that allows Android phone apps to display on a dashboard screen, which basically performs like a computer monitor. By connecting your phone to the vehicle’s Android Auto system, you can use map apps such as Google, Waze and now MapQuest, as well as stream music and listen to podcasts or use AI programs like Google Assistant or Gemini to send texts and make calls.
What about Apple users? A message on MapQuest’s help center noted that “
In addition to basic navigation, the MapQuest app is trying out a
feature on Android Auto. Drivers and passengers can report accidents, road closures and activity by police and other first-responders on the app so that other drivers might know what’s coming up for them on the roads.
As a comparison, MapQuest and Google Maps both have the basics — planning a route from Point A to Point B with an estimated travel time, a computer voice telling when and where to turn and search functionality to find businesses and other locations. But Google Maps also has public transit directions, indoor maps for malls and airports and user reviews of businesses through its integration with Google Search.
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MapQuest did not say if all Android Auto users would be able to use it or how long the beta testing would last. A representative for MapQuest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It’s been a while since “MapQuest” rolled off the tongue of many Americans. The company launched on Feb. 5, 1996, and within a few years, it controlled nearly all of the market share for online mapping, with
. But the company began to decline after Google launched its maps app in 2005.
That changed earlier this week. MapQuest refused to change Lake Ontario to Lake America on its maps,
with an executive order on Aug. 27. Google and Apple complied, but MapQuest and Microsoft haven’t.
Within days, MapQuest became the No. 1 most-downloaded app in the US, with more than 1.5 million downloads since Trump’s order. The company also created a widget that lets you
, “We were absolutely blown away by the response,” he said. “It’s completely shocking.”
Ever since being admittedly fascinated by the Cambridge coffee webcam from the 1990s, I’ve written about VPNs, the NFL, smartphones, living wages, over/unders and everything in between.
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