At Google’s "Made By Google 2025" event in New York City, the company took a series of pointed jabs at Apple, highlighting perceived shortcomings in its ecosystem, AI rollout, and user experience. The event, which unveiled the Pixel 10 and Pixel Watch 4, featured several subtle and direct critiques of Apple, underscoring the ongoing rivalry between the two tech giants. Rick Osterloh, Google’s Senior Vice President of Platforms and Devices, addressed the growing expectations around AI in smartphones. Speaking with host Jimmy Fallon, Osterloh remarked on the hype surrounding AI features, noting, “There has been a lot of hype about this, and frankly, a lot of broken promises too, but Gemini is the real deal.” His comment appeared to reference Apple’s delayed rollout of Apple Intelligence, the company’s long-anticipated AI suite for Siri. Apple had pushed back the release in March, citing the need for more refinement—a rare move that Google subtly mocked in a recent ad teasing the delay. The ad quipped, “If you buy a new phone because of a feature that's 'coming soon,' but it's been 'coming soon' for a full year, you could change your definition of 'soon' — or you could just change your phone.” Fallon also displayed a Reddit comment on screen that read, “iPhones don’t take the best pics.” The audience cheered, and Osterloh laughed, acknowledging, “We hear that a lot.” This moment underscored Google’s ongoing push to position its Pixel cameras as superior in image quality. Adrienne Lofton, Google’s Vice President of Marketing, expanded on the criticism by targeting Apple’s closed ecosystem. She described Apple’s approach as creating “walled gardens” that limit user freedom. “Some companies build their phones to lock you in, and force you to use their devices in only one way,” Lofton said. In contrast, she praised Android as “the most open platform that's built for freedom of choice.” She also revisited the long-standing green vs. blue text bubble debate. Google launched the #getthemessage campaign in 2022, arguing that messaging between iPhones and Android devices was broken due to Apple’s refusal to adopt the RCS messaging standard. While Apple introduced limited RCS support in 2024—improving photo quality and adding read receipts—texts still appear in green bubbles. Lofton dismissed the ongoing debate as “silly, and it's tired, and at Google, we're done with that conversation.” Despite the jabs, Google stopped short of directly naming Apple in most instances. However, when Fallon asked about Pixel’s compatibility with Apple MagSafe accessories, Lofton said, “The Pixel Snap works perfectly fine with Apple MagSafe accessories.” Fallon responded with, “You said the A-word. Can we talk about Apple?” To which Lofton replied, “At Pixel, we are confident in our product, and in our brand, and we love everybody in the game, so we can say anyone's name we want on this stage.” Neither Google nor Apple has responded to requests for comment on the remarks.