Why would iOS be safer from spying than a well setup Android phone?
What can Google possibly latch onto to spy on our Android actions?

Specific things only.
Not Marketing crap please.

The iOS guys are constantly saying that just using Android alone is
allowing Google to spy on us, which, they say, Apple doesn't do. They say
they're much safer from spying on iOS than we are on Android.

Ok. Where's the beef?
(The iOS guys are like your basic used-car salespeople - they almost never
tell the truth and they can only spout what the Marketing guys tell them to
say - so we're not going to get any provable level of detail from them).

Even though we won't likely get anything from iOS guys that they didn't
read off of a glossy marketing brochure, I'll cc them, just in case they do
know something of what they constantly talk about.

Other than Google Mail and Google Maps and Google browsers (and other apps
common to both platforms), what exactly are they talking about when they
constantly imply they're safer from spying on iOS than on Android?

Specifically, what does Google latch on to in order to "spy" on our Android
activities that Apple doesn't likewise do?

The Apple guys get all their ideas from the admittedly clever Marketing
machine (which knows how to play to their intense fear) so I doubt they'll
be providing any real details to their accusations - yet they still
constantly accuse the Android users of being spied upon by Google simply
for using Android.

I just want to find out the correct answer to the question.

Therefore, I'm just asking *how* Google can spy on us when we are using
Android (that can't be likewise done when were using iOS)?

I maintain a pretty clean single-desktop-pane privacy settings ship, where
I keep a copy of all known Google-specific apps, to ensure I'm not logged
into any one of them: http://i.cubeupload.com/oexktG.gif

And, as you know, I've recently deleted my Google Play ID, where the
Android phone works just fine without a Google ID - so Google can't latch
onto my Google Play ID (which no longer even exists) to "spy" on my Android
activities.

Likewise, I've always had "Location services" set to the recommended
privacy settings, so, apps aren't allowed to use my location:
http://i.cubeupload.com/ugZ1fc.gif

In addition, using App Ops Starter, I've turned off location access to all
Android apps that I don't think need this information, for example:
- Android Settings: http://i.cubeupload.com/mYSCjc.gif
- Network Location: http://i.cubeupload.com/rfmqc7.gif
- Android IP Service: http://i.cubeupload.com/ZCV3yC.gif
etc.

Furthermore, I have location turned off for non-Android apps also, for
example:
- Google Play Services: http://i.cubeupload.com/KbMWVM.gif
- Google Search: http://i.cubeupload.com/ZUiP01.gif
- ES File Explorer: http://i.cubeupload.com/mX8GaS.gif
etc.

Even though the "Advertising ID" menu (and a bunch of other things) are now
no longer in the Android settings menus, I still can bring up "Google
Settings" separately:
http://i.cubeupload.com/N97c9S.gif

And, in those "Google Settings", I can easily reset the "Advertising ID":
http://i.cubeupload.com/SVpOs2.gif

So, without a static "Advertising ID" (and ignoring Google Maps and Google
Mail, which are special cross-platform apps that exist on iOS also), what
Android-specific things can Google possibly latch off of to spy on us while
we're using our Android devices that Apple doesn't also do on iOS?