Project Fi + Nexus 5X + Stock Android is as good as it gets in integration and UX. The other day I lost my phone so I typed "where is my phone" into google. It showed me immediately. How many passwords do you have to type and licences to accept to do that on your Apple cloud?
I agree the article doesn't explain it very well, but the bottom line is google is now controlling hardware, software, network and full online life (search, gmail, google play, calendar, map, etc) and they have the capacity to integrate it all. I recognize people are happy with their iPhones and they won't switch because of switching cost or fashion, but Google is creating some word class product here nonetheless.