Google Tuesday released its new Duo video-calling app that seeks to compete with Apple Inc.'s Face Time.
Duo allows users to place video calls between Android and iPhone users, effectively increasing the number of people with whom callers may have video conversations,
The New York Times reports.
Apple makes the iPhone, while Google created the Android operating system.
"You shouldn't have to worry about whether your call will connect, or if your friend is using the same type of device as you are," Google said in a statement. "It's no wonder that nearly half of U.S. adults never make video calls on mobile."
With the Duo app, Google seeks to attract iPhone users to Android, the Times reports. Google's apps generally work better on Android devices — in moves that seek to undermine loyalty to Apple and its products.
Nick Fox, Google's head of communication products, told the Times that the company's objectives with Duo were to build a quality product and to increase video calling among Android users.
However, making Android more attractive to iPhone owners was a secondary motive, Fox added. Duo's attributes are that it was simple to use, fast and more widely accessible.
"Our view is video calling should work for everybody," Fox told the Times. "If you can only call half the people you know, that's very limiting."
Apple seems to publicly remain nonplussed by Google's efforts, according to the report, based on CEO Timothy Cook's insistence last month that more people are switching to iPhones from Android devices than ever before.
"Our year-to-date iPhone sales to switchers are the greatest we've seen in any nine-month period," Cook told reporters in an earnings conference call.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment further, the Times reports.
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