Anything but google.
Gulf of America.
Don’t catch me slipping tho.
Gulf of America.
Guns in my area.
The irony is that it doesn’t specify which America.
Good point that naming it “Gulf of Americas” would solve all issues 😅
Funny how a single “S” prevented a hit and gave us shit
ecosia all the way
No better time than the present to switch to OpenStreetMap
For Android, I use OsmAnd~ which uses OpenStreetMap data and allows you to download maps to calculate routes offline, something Google Maps couldn’t do for routes by foot and by bike last time I tried.
It also has better coverage for some small paths in natural areas like forests. Give it a try!
In OSM ″Gulf of America″ is added under official_name:en-US tag so if any app uses this tag to display names, it will show up.
Here is the link to OSM object for Gulf of Mexico. And here is a thread that discusses naming.
Any country/language can call any object as they want. This change of course was dumb and petty and doubt it will be adopted by other regions, but this is nothing new or special. Google Maps currently show ″Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)″ for me. When checking in another language it shows same naming standard.
Is using alternative maps even worth it if you have google’s Android and location has to go through google play services anyways?
Google Maps are pretty barebones, but at the same time reliable for general / basic use. Depends on region, but OSM usually will be more detailed. It is also possible your region has some local provider that is even better.
It won’t prevent Google from tracking your location, but it might help support these alternative maps by increasing their popularity on the PlayStore and whatnot.
you can use gps without play services.
How?
Disable “(improve) location accuracy” in settings and location history in Google settings (I think)
The OsmAnd~ app, from fdroid, is the premium (and paid) version og OsmAnd, also known as OsmAnd+.
If you use the fdroid version, and enjoy the app, consider donating to the developers through other means.
I’ve been using it and evangelizing it for some time now. I don’t have a data plan and it works. My data, location, preferences or anything is not sold to anyone.
It can be a little overwhelming at first. It can be difficult to use at times (the search isn’t great), but in using it, I feel like I’m a part of something good and I can rest better knowing that.
OsmAnd is a nightmare in terms of user experience! I dropped it 8 years ago because it was a horror. I gave it a try again last month because, you know, maybe people have done something about the useless navigation, the totally overpacked UI, the sluggish behaviour etc. Guess what? It’s the same terrible (!) app it was 8 years ago!
FCK Google, but if that’s all that there is as an alternative, well…
I use Magic Earth. It’s not Open Source afaik but they claim they dont collect data (…🤔). I don’t believe this so use these apps as little as possible.
Greetings, an open source enthousiast
Agree with you, OsmAnd is practically unusable for me due to the ancient UI. I hated it every time I used it.
I found Organic Maps to be a decent modern alternative. It’s open source and uses data from openstreetmaps as well, but it’s a million times less cluttered.
This is pathetic and reeks of insecurity big time. Hope that this debacle improves your QoL, Americans.
American here. It’s freaking embarrassing. Not as much as all the other shit, and certainly not as sad and tragic. Our neighbors elected a cartoon villain and his best buddy, another cartoon villain.
Eh I’m on the opposite side, despite being a massive lefty. Why would an american company not follow an American dictate just for America? (It’s still called the Gulf of Mexico on Google in every other country) It sets a wild precedent where private businesses refuse to follow the fairly inconsequential requests of their government.
What’s funny is the rest of the world gets “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” which ups the insecurity I expect.
Seems like all the high-visibility, internet-focused corporations are rushing forward to bend the knee.
I guess it would be pretty interesting to see one of them do the opposite. As in, how easily and quickly would the exec and other branches be able to attack them, maybe even to destroy them?
I just did literally the only thing I CAN do, which is rate it 1 star and call out their spinelessness. I’m sure this token, irrelevant act will be ignored at best or manually removed at worst. But until they drag me off to the gulag I’m absolutely not going to shut up and play along.
Fuck Trump, Musk, their MAGA cult, and anyone who enables or colludes with them or fails to fight back.
Poop. I was hoping I could leave a review but can’t
Mexico should rename “America”
Divided States of America
because that’s what it really is
You mean Estados Unidos ? In Spanish, ‘America’ already refers to the north and south continents, not to the USA
Wake up people, it’s always been the Gulf of America. /s
It’s not google’s fault. It was told to do so and has. Does anyone seriously expect them not to have done this?
Every American company, or company doing business in America, needs to toe the line of an unpredictable and vindictive president, especially one as fat and tempting as Google.
Now there’ll be a disconnect in mapping between what some sources say and what others do, but anyone with a little history knowledge knows this isn’t the first time.
I’m not in the USA, I am not a US citizen. No reason I should be seeing this while I’m in the EU.
Submit a correction. Many people should.
Look at the Falkland Islands. It does the exact same thing because the Argentinian government ordered them to. Google maps tries to stay apolitical, by abiding governments, and adding the non-globally recognised name in brackets.
Nor am I, but what’s that got to do with it?
The renaming isn’t internationally recognised, so shouldn’t be shown internationally.
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of place names that are not internationally recognised around the world.
The renaming only applies to US federal agencies. Google is (supposedly) not a federal agency, so yes, it is their fault.
Google takes their place name data from the relevant country’s official government sources. That source data changed. This is exactly like when the previous administration renamed Mt McKinley to Denali.
They don’t have to do that, especially when the change is clearly for white supremacy purposes (like Denali being given its colonial name back). It’s their choice to be bootlickers.
There’s no legal requirement to comply.
This is voluntary
Yeah, right. Of course it is. Ever tell a dictator no? They’re very forgiving.
look, fuck google for many reasons, but not this. this is just keeping your head down and trying to survive the shit storm.
this is just keeping your head down and trying to survive the shit storm
They aren’t a mom&pop small bussiness, they are a multi-national multi-billion dollar conglomerate that spans almost the entire world. They can afford to take the risk. They can “lobby” (aka: bribe) the government and get them to back off. Also, as far as I know, there were no legal requirement of mapmakers to change it. It’s always legal under the first amendment for mapmakers to make an “incorrect” map.
When they start rounding up trans people and deporting them to concentration camps, I’ll remember that the person shoving me into the train is just trying to keep his head down and weather the storm.
oh, i can hear the violins playing now.
of course you made this into something about trans people when it will likely be anyone who opposes them. ya’ll are gonna get slaughtered. wise up.
Their stated policy is to put trans people and illegal immigrants in camps.
They’re the first group being targeted.
cool. you got your breaking point. my breaking point was years ago. catch up.
What is your point?
The 2nd richest company on the planet is not afraid of the US government they own.
sure. whatever. fuck google. i’m definitely not here to defend google.
it’s beginning to look like there is no helping you people though. it’s like you all just got here and you’re trying to convince the oldest grognard how bad things are. like, motherfucker, i’ve been here since 9/11.
In nazi Germany they had a name for those who kept their heads down and tried to survive the shitstorm. They were called Nazis.
not true. You should read what’s written back then
not all Germans were considered NAZIs. Heck, not all Germans were even considered Germans.
Why is everything black/white with lemmings?
To be fair, you shouldn’t call everyone a nazi.
My grandparents ran away from the Japanese soldiers during the Japanese Invasion of China. Most of their village doesn’t consider them “collaborators” or “汉奸” (Han-Traitor). They did what they had to to survive. Fleeing from conflict is not the same as collaboration. Those who fled from the Taliban shouldn’t be labeled as “Islamic Extremists”. Ukranians who fled the draft shouldn’t be labeled as “Russian Sympathizers”.
But that’s only for individuals, civillians, not corporations or politicians. Google definitely has no excuses. But the point I’m trying to make is: unless someone actually help the fascists, they shouldn’t be labeled as “nazis”. It’s not morally wrong to give in to human survival instincts and run away from conflict. If Anne Frank successfully fled nazi Germany, you wouldn’t call her a “nazi”, right?
ooo. somebody’s looking to score some upvotes for their virtue signaling.
well, i’ll tell ya what boss… how about you get out there and start killing nazi’s then. otherwise you are one (by your own reasoning)
That’s what a nazi would say.
Don’t worry, I’m already on the case.
good.
and if you’re implying that i’m the problem, then by all means, come and get me. i’d love to give you a lesson in getting shit done.
We found an Internet tough guy, everyone back up! While we were busy virtue signaling this guy studied deez nuts.
Nah, fuck them 100% - and this is just icing.
look, if you’re a soulless corporation just trying to deliver profits to shareholders, this is 100% the right move.
the problem is not refusing to go along with some meaningless gesture based in ignorant nationalism. the problem is that we live in capitalism, where the right move is always the one that delivers profits. decisions lacking humanity are always going to get made. focusing on this nothingburger just distracts from the bigger picture.
if you want results, destroy capitalism.
if you want results, destroy capitalism
Says the person defending google…
You don’t destroy capitalism by making concessions to mega-corp. If you truly want to destroy capitalism, you should be constantly taking every shot you can.
i’m not defending them. i’m just trying to temper your expectations. there’s a lot of uproar of pikachu shocked face stuff. it’s all symptoms of the illness. you will be slapping band aids on shit forever if you don’t attack the root cause of the illness.
sometimes i think you all just want stuff to be outraged over. maybe you just like to post about it and get upvotes. maybe you just want to be part of an in-group.
does that assumption bother you? because it bothers me that you think i’m pro-capitalism just because i won’t join in on your circle jerk.
Reading through your post history I am inferring that you believe you’re smarter than everyone (due to pretty much a complete absence of any kind of snark for about a week. I didn’t go back further than that). I don’t believe you’re very smart. You’re the type of “leftist” that causes division amongst the left. That being said; yes, I believe you’re pro-capitalist. So with that, I block you.
That would make sense if they didn’t also change in Europe…
How could they change it in Europe? It’s in the Americas?
(Yeah, I’m being facetious, but changing maps depending on where you read them is just adding another layer of confusion)
🙃
Look at this, even Australia is laughing at us from the other side of the globe!
Degoogled already! Installed /e/os on my Pixel 6a! A little irritated though as it seems like literally every app I’ve used is tied to Google!!
deleted by creator
Seems to be based on zoom, if I zoom in it’s only gulf of America, zooming out results in what you see.
Can confirm. Discovered that this morning.
