That may be true with Apple (WebGL please?), but I haven't felt that way about Google before. I've always seen Android as a means to an end for them, to get more people using the web. Any further reading?
That used to be the story, but then it changed as a means to get people into Google services, and guess what: You don't need a web to do that.
The current state of Android is that all defaults, unless you override them and install third party apps, involve you logging into a Google account and storing and associating everything you do with that: Mail, Contacts, Calendar-data, Photos, Music, etc.
And to install third party apps, you need to log in with a Google+ account, and when you do that, the sync for all the above-mentioned things get activated.
Escaping the Google-creep is getting harder and harder on Android, so I seriously hope FirefoxOS, Jolla, Tizen or anything really will be getting somewhere and soon.
Android is not feeling quite as cozy as it used to anymore.
When you look at it that way these products are all very logical moves to protect Google's search business (and the very very lucrative ad business attached to it). The rest is added bonus.