In August 2020, Epic Games, Inc. initiated lawsuits against Apple, Inc. and Google LLC. Epic's allegations against both companies are largely similar. Both Apple and Google have successfully developed their operating systems and permitted third parties to operate their applications on these platforms. To facilitate this, both companies mandate that all apps be distributed through their respective app stores for a fee. Nevertheless, third parties can indeed distribute their applications outside of these app stores. This raises the question of why Apple and Google impose this requirement for app distribution through their stores. A common justification provided by Apple and Google is that by controlling app distribution, they can effectively screen for malicious applications.
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