Google asked Apple to preload its search app on iOS

In late 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai floated a bold idea to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook had just told Pichai he wanted to be “deep, deep partners, deeply connected where our services end and yours begin,” according to notes from the meeting. Pichai responded with a proposal: What if Apple preinstalled a Google Search app on every iOS device?

What Pichai heard: deep love as in, “we want to go to market as a dream team, as a package deal.”

What Cook meant: deep down as in, “we don’t want anyone to know Google has anything to do with our products.”