Illustration of 2 women hiding their apps from search on their iPhones

The Most Popular Cell Phone Search Queries of 2016

As 2016 comes to a close, let’s take a look at some of the most popular phone-related questions Googled this year. Some were a surprise, like people wondering how to spell cell phone/cellphone correctly. While others were expected as people are drawn to drama… Be honest – how many of these have you looked up this year?

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In no particular order- The Most Google Phone Questions of 2016:

Which Cell Phone Has the Best Camera?

This depends on what you define as “the best.” Having the highest megapixels doesn’t exactly mean that the camera will take the best pictures. Some cameras with fewer megapixels but better aperture configurations or better colors sensors take better pictures than those with more megapixels.

Our recommendation is to try the cameras on a few phones in person to see which one takes the photos you’ll take the best.

What Cell Phone Do I Have?

This is actually quite simple to find out.

On an iPhone:

  1. Go to Setting
  2. Tap on General
  3. Tap on About

On an Android

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Tap on About phone

Is it Cell Phone or Cellphone?

A cell phone is short for a cellular telephone. According to Merriam Webster, the correct way to write it is a cell phone.  While the Australian Concise Oxford dictionary says “cellphone.” Looking at monthly searches, “cell phone” is the clear winner.

Cell phone searches

The Brits tend to use “Mobile” instead, and it looks like it’s catching on among Americans. “Mobile Phone” has a whopping 201.000 monthly searches in the US. So keep it simple, call it a mobile phone and stop worrying about if it’s a cell phone or a cellphone.

How Do I Lookup a Cell Phone Number?

Trying to figure out who called you? Sometimes simply Googling the phone number will tell you if it was a business calling you back. However, that’s not always the case. Instead, we suggest going to your email and typing the number in to see if it’s someone you’re on an email chain with. Googling the area code also helps you to track the caller down to a specific area. But if none of these work for you, you’ll have to pay for a reverse phone number lookup service to truly find out the name of the person who called you. Or try calling them back.

Which Phone is Blowing Up?

Samsung’s misfortune with the Samsung Note 7 catching on fire when charging was one of the most Googled questions. In case you missed it, here’s what it looked like:

Is Snapchat on Windows Phone?

The simple answer is no. Allegedly Microsoft is still working on it, but TBD on when that’s actually going to come out.

How to Find My Phone?

  • iPhone has a built in tool for finding your phone:
  1. Go to your Home screen.
  2. Tap Settings > iCloud
  3. Please scroll to the bottom and tap Find My iPhone
  4. Slide to turn on Find My iPhone and Send Last Location
  • Android has a Device Manager to help people find their phone:
  1. Open your device’s Settings app.
  2. Tap Security
  3. Under “Android Device Manager,” switch Remotely locate this device and turn to Allow remote lock and erase on

Head over to one of our previous posts for more information about finding and setting up your phone.

What Was the First Cell Phone?

That’s a pretty interesting question. On 3 April 1973, Martin Cooper, made the first mobile call from handheld device, making a call to Dr. Joel Engel of Bell Labs his rival. The prototype weighed 4.4 pounds and was 9x5x2 inches. Before the cell phone Prof. Albert Jahnke claimed to have developed a wireless phone in 1908. However, Jahnke and the company he was working for, Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone and Power Company, were both accused for fraud and the prototype never made it to production.

Is Mobile Phone Insurance Worth Having?

That’s a very personal question. We suggest searching within before searching Google. Phone insurance is often recommended for people who tend to drop their phones, leave them behind, or be in situations where it can be stolen (may carrier cell phone insurance plans have theft protection).

What Cell Phone Has the Biggest Screen?

There are many large smartphones or “phablets” (phone + tablet) on the market today. Two of the largest are the Mi Mix with a whopping 6.4-inch display and the Huawei Mate 8 with a 6-inch screen. Other “large” phones have a 5.5-inch display, as seen on the iPhone 7 Plus, Google Pixel XL, Huawei Nexus 6P, and Motorola G4 Plus.

Is Nokia an Android Phone?

For many years Nokia phones were made by Microsoft and only ran the Windows Phone operating system. After being out of the limelight for a while, Nokia is rumored to be making a comeback in the mobile phone industry using Google’s Android operating system. Starting with the Nokia D1C, Nokia’s first-ever Android phone, a handful of Android-based smartphones will be released at the beginning of 2017.

Which Phone is Better?

The never-ending and probably the most disputed question in the phone industry. Apple fanboys and Android fanboys will always try to convince you that their phone(s) are better than any other on the market.

At the end of the day, though, it all comes back to preference. Do you want a large phone or a small phone? Does the number of apps you can download matter? Do you want to be able to have Snapchat? (If so, avoid Windows phones). Another big factor is budget. While Android and Windows phones come at various price points, Apple’s iPhones start at $399 for the iPhone SE and can go up to $969 for an iPhone 7 Plus.

Make it easy on yourself by using our list of The Very Best Phones of 2016 to help pick the best phone for you.

This was just a selection of the most googled answered but we hope you learned something new!