Apple has dropped its lawsuit against Corellium, the company that allowed its customers to use a virtual iPhone running iOS right within from the browser on their PC. This allows developers to test their apps easily and provides security researchers a safe environment for their research.

Apple first sued Corellium in August 2019 for copyright infringement and for illegally replicating iOS and its system apps. Apple even went as far as to claim that Corellium was making it easy for hackers to find ways to hack into iPhones and iPads.

However, in late December last year, a judge ruled that “Corellium has met its burden of establishing fair use,” meaning it is not violating any fair usage policy and it is free to offer its iOS virtualization feature to its customers. This case also revealed that Apple tried to acquire Corellium back in 2018, but the latter rejected the offer.

Apple now seems to have settled its lawsuit against Corellium privately and out of court. The case was scheduled to go to trial on August 16. The terms of the settlement remain confidential. Corellium, on its part, continues to sell its virtualized iOS plans to enterprise and individual customers.

The Washington Post report also highlights how security experts were skeptical of Apple winning the case. And if the court would have ruled in Apple’s favor, it would have acted as a huge deterrent for independent security experts.