On PC you download random software from the software makers website, not from a Google or Apple site. Now, if you are downloading something from the Google play store, that implies some form of responsibility by Google. Google is being careful to stop some people from saying "I got a virus from Google!!! They are evil!!!", and similar things.
That is the statement they are making, but it's not the reality. There is a lot of what can only be described by reasonable people as malware in all of the app stores. They are not curated at all. It just happens that sometimes, an app has a complaint against it and an investigation leads to the app getting banned. That's what I mean by the post-hoc system they employ.
And let's not even get into the issues of quality or uniqueness. How many freaking compass apps do you really need?
If you're going to limit free, open installations, and market to users a curated ecosystem, then curate the apps already. Create a review board. No app goes published without human eyes overlooking it. I don't care that it will reduce the number of approved apps (or the maximum approval rate). That's the entire freaking point. Curate the apps already.
