iPhone 7 Tops Google's 2016 'Year in Search' Tech List, Loses to Pokémon Go in Overall Searches

Google has listed its annual "Year in Search" results, highlighting the most popular searches performed by people throughout 2016. As is usually the case, Apple-related search inquiries topped a few of the charts over the last twelve months, with Apple winning four total spots in the Consumer Tech category: the iPhone 7 topped the list ahead of the Freedom 251, iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 7 Plus, Galaxy Note7, Nintendo Switch, and Samsung J7.

google-year-in-search-2
Last December, the iPhone 6s ranked #1 in the same category, with the Apple Watch coming in at a high point at #3. Apple's wearable was nowhere to be seen in the top Google tech searches in 2016, despite Apple launching the new Series 1 and Series 2 versions of the device.

In the Overall searches category, Pokémon Go came in first place in 2016 thanks to the height of its popularity and player base earlier in the summer, and the game's continued updates and additions throughout the fall. iPhone 7 ranked second behind Pokémon Go, and was the only Apple-related item to be listed in the section this year. Other popular search terms in 2016 were for Deadpool, the Olympics, Slither.io, Prince, David Bowie, and more.


Check out the rest of Google's Year in Search rankings here to discover the most popularly searched movies, news, tv shows, musicians, and more this past year.

Tag: Google
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...

Top Rated Comments

magicschoolbus Avatar
111 months ago
#1 Search in 2017: USB C Dongles
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
decafjava Avatar
111 months ago
Apple is doomed if they continue their current business model. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Gateway, Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc.. are all building off each other to improve OS's, Applications and Services.

Microsoft is completely wrapping itself around Android. All their services are on Android much more than iOS. You can text and receive notifications natively within Windows 10 from an Android phone. Its somewhat limited in the current version but will be really baked in with the upcoming Anniversary update. This is a smart move!

At the same time Microsoft is working with Qualcomm to bring Windows x86 to phones. How about a phone that can be plugged into a dock and be a FULL Windows machine with eGPU performance.

Imagine how different our discussions would be on these forums if Apple allowed HP to build a laptop with MacOS? Maybe we wouldn't be so disappointed wit the 2016 MacBook Pro! I'm loving the hell out of my new HP Spectre x360 convertible laptop. Probably the best laptop I have ever owned and I am a tech junkie. i7, 16gb, 512gb SSD for $1,100.

There is NO company in the world that can manage Hardware, OS, and Services ecosystem for long without opening it up for other innovators (and not just apps)! There are too many moving pieces and too many things to cycle through and update.

The companies that build open systems and allow other billion dollar companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to use their smartest and brightest to extend their products and services is the only way to grow in an industry that moves incredibly fast!

Apple has peaked.

Apple revolutionized the mobile phone and extended the profitability by making the iPad which was really just a large phone. While they dominated the industry they forced people to buy their PC's and it worked! They grew faster than ever before and became the largest company in the world!

They pushed the entire industry into a new era and everyone scrambled and worked together and now surpassed Apple in almost everyway. The only way Apple can change things is to do something revolutionary again but history has taught us that doesn't happen especially when the visionary of the company has died.

The iPhone 8 isn't going to change this.

I have recently moved a family of six off the Apple ecosystem and spent 1/3rd of what I had invested in Apple while giving almost everyone in the family more functionality.

BTW, my family loves the heck out of Google Home. It sits in the kitchen and there isn't a day that goes by that the family isn't asking it questions and playing music!

Tim
You sure you're in the right forum?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tuzzanti Avatar
111 months ago
Apple is doomed if they continue their current business model. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Gateway, Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc.. are all building off each other to improve OS's, Applications and Services.

Microsoft is completely wrapping itself around Android. All their services are on Android much more than iOS. You can text and receive notifications natively within Windows 10 from an Android phone. Its somewhat limited in the current version but will be really baked in with the upcoming Anniversary update. This is a smart move!

At the same time Microsoft is working with Qualcomm to bring Windows x86 to phones. How about a phone that can be plugged into a dock and be a FULL Windows machine with eGPU performance.

Imagine how different our discussions would be on these forums if Apple allowed HP to build a laptop with MacOS? Maybe we wouldn't be so disappointed wit the 2016 MacBook Pro! I'm loving the hell out of my new HP Spectre x360 convertible laptop. Probably the best laptop I have ever owned and I am a tech junkie. i7, 16gb, 512gb SSD for $1,100.

There is NO company in the world that can manage Hardware, OS, and Services ecosystem for long without opening it up for other innovators (and not just apps)! There are too many moving pieces and too many things to cycle through and update.

The companies that build open systems and allow other billion dollar companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to use their smartest and brightest to extend their products and services is the only way to grow in an industry that moves incredibly fast!

Apple has peaked.

Apple revolutionized the mobile phone and extended the profitability by making the iPad which was really just a large phone. While they dominated the industry they forced people to buy their PC's and it worked! They grew faster than ever before and became the largest company in the world!

They pushed the entire industry into a new era and everyone scrambled and worked together and now surpassed Apple in almost everyway. The only way Apple can change things is to do something revolutionary again but history has taught us that doesn't happen especially when the visionary of the company has died.

The iPhone 8 isn't going to change this.

I have recently moved a family of six off the Apple ecosystem and spent 1/3rd of what I had invested in Apple while giving almost everyone in the family more functionality.

BTW, my family loves the heck out of Google Home. It sits in the kitchen and there isn't a day that goes by that the family isn't asking it questions and playing music!

Tim
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coolfactor Avatar
111 months ago
That video reaches deep.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TMRJIJ Avatar
111 months ago
Apple is doomed if they continue their current business model. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Gateway, Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc.. are all building off each other to improve OS's, Applications and Services.

Microsoft is completely wrapping itself around Android. All their services are on Android much more than iOS. You can text and receive notifications natively within Windows 10 from an Android phone. Its somewhat limited in the current version but will be really baked in with the upcoming Anniversary update. This is a smart move!

At the same time Microsoft is working with Qualcomm to bring Windows x86 to phones. How about a phone that can be plugged into a dock and be a FULL Windows machine with eGPU performance.

Imagine how different our discussions would be on these forums if Apple allowed HP to build a laptop with MacOS? Maybe we wouldn't be so disappointed wit the 2016 MacBook Pro! I'm loving the hell out of my new HP Spectre x360 convertible laptop. Probably the best laptop I have ever owned and I am a tech junkie. i7, 16gb, 512gb SSD for $1,100.

There is NO company in the world that can manage Hardware, OS, and Services ecosystem for long without opening it up for other innovators (and not just apps)! There are too many moving pieces and too many things to cycle through and update.

The companies that build open systems and allow other billion dollar companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to use their smartest and brightest to extend their products and services is the only way to grow in an industry that moves incredibly fast!

Apple has peaked.

Apple revolutionized the mobile phone and extended the profitability by making the iPad which was really just a large phone. While they dominated the industry they forced people to buy their PC's and it worked! They grew faster than ever before and became the largest company in the world!

They pushed the entire industry into a new era and everyone scrambled and worked together and now surpassed Apple in almost everyway. The only way Apple can change things is to do something revolutionary again but history has taught us that doesn't happen especially when the visionary of the company has died.

The iPhone 8 isn't going to change this.

I have recently moved a family of six off the Apple ecosystem and spent 1/3rd of what I had invested in Apple while giving almost everyone in the family more functionality.

BTW, my family loves the heck out of Google Home. It sits in the kitchen and there isn't a day that goes by that the family isn't asking it questions and playing music!

Tim
For future references, a TL;DR sentence would be helpful for some members here :cool:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
decafjava Avatar
111 months ago
well if you break down the google searches it comes up something like this ..

"the iphone 7 looks like the iphone 6, a 3 year old iphone"

"the iphone 7 has no headphone jack"

"the iphone 7 is not innovative"
Just proves people are superficial and gullible (A10 chip super fast, can you tell the difference between an S6, 6 or 7 Edge at first glance etc.) whatever.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)