“any differences” vs. “any difference”

Question

I understand the rules in Cambridge Dictionary grammar tutorial, like any + plural countable noun and

A: I don’t think I’ve ever seen you paint such a beautiful picture before. Gosh! Did you choose the colours?

B: We could choose any colours we wanted.

and any + uncountable noun

Do I need to get any petrol?

I am not sure which rule should I use with "difference"

Ngram Viewer shows both are common.

An ELL post uses it as an uncountable noun

I'd like to know if there's any difference in meaning between ...

Another ELL post goes with the rule of plural countable noun.

the differences between ...

Answer 1

"Difference" can be understood in both an uncountable and a countable form.

"I can't see any difference between the two"

feels more natural than:

"I can't see any differences between the two"

unless it was understood that it is expected that the speaker ought to be able to find a number of specific differences, for example, as in a "spot the difference" puzzle, which would be worded "Can you find the 10 differences between these two cartoons?". And the speaker, not being able to discern any of them at all, would perhaps use the "differences" form rather than the "difference" form.