Three years ago, Google paid $25 million for exclusive rights to the ‘.app’ top-level web domain. At long last, the company is now opening up registrations for .app, with the Early Access Program in full swing. This might be a great chance for app developers as it will help them create a secure and easy to remember domain, since the .com domains have been running low for popular words.
The .app is a new top-level domain (TLD) certified by ICANN and is seen as an obvious choice for app developers and others in the tech industry. One of the major features of this new top-level domain is that Google is requiring HTTPs for all .app websites right from the start. This will ensure that all websites registered with “.app” domain will be secured with latest web protocol.
The built-in security protects against ad malware, tracking injection by internet service providers, and safeguards against spying on open Wi-Fi networks, the company mentions. HTTPs is a part of Google’s Push to make the entire web secure. Google said it would mark all pages without HTTPS encryption as insecure starting in July with the launch of Chrome 68.
Prior to the public launch of .app, Google had reached out to potential candidates, offering them a first crack at grabbing a .app domain in order to showcase the potential use cases. Some of those who are already live on .app domains include Outdoor Voices, Cash App, Sitata, Albert, Picnic, Trail, BNEXT, Bark, CallApp, The Podcast App, Pickle, MenaVR and many others from around the world. (Complete List)
Till May 7, you can get early access to the .app domain registry. Post which, all .app domains will go live to the general public. If you have an app, you would want to make sure you get the domain before someone else does. Nonetheless, it’s highly recommended that you visit get.app to order yours now.
