At its annual developers conference, Google reinforced that it isn’t afraid to set up shop on the territory of its biggest rival, Apple. Several of the new services that it announced Wednesday are available for Google’s devices as well as Apple’s.
The company introduction its Hangout app, which will be a messaging service that works for Android devices, Apple’s iOS devices and through a Web browser. It also said that it would enable a new feature called Cloud Save — the capability to save user data across different devices — to work inside games made for Apple’s iOS software system.
Google even took the opportunity to jab at Apple’s map problems when it talked about the new maps app it made for iPhones late last year.
“People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and let’s not forget, accurate,” said Daniel Graf, Google’s director of maps, while showing a picture of an iPhone with Google Maps. Mr. Graf demonstrated new features in its Maps app for Android devices and iPhones. When searching for a business, the software can now show special offers and discounts like getting half off a drink at Starbucks. The maps can also see real-time alerts for incidents, like car accidents slowing down traffic and offer a faster route.
These moves follow many examples of Google adding to its products for Apple’s iOS. Recently, it released a version of Google Now, a personal assistant similar to Apple’s Siri, that works for iPhones. And late last year, Google released its own maps app for iPhones.
Google’s aggressive expansion into Apple’s iOS system illustrates that it will do what it takes to collect user data from its rival’s customers, even if it makes Apple’s platform more powerful.