Google Finally Makes .App Available

It’s been three years since Google spent $25 million on the rights to the .app domain. Finally, the company is making this top-level domain available for purchase. Early access ended May 8th. And the domain is now up for public purchase.

Why is this so important? For obvious reasons, .app will be ideal for all app developers. The .app domain allows for new domain names that might have previously been taken, as well as makes it easier to remember. 300-500 websites are created each minute, so this opens a lot of new doors for app developers.

Google came out and said that they are not limiting purchases to app developers exclusively. Of course, it wouldn’t make much sense to use a .app domain for something other than an app; but to each their own; Google isn’t restricting it, nonetheless.

Google is also requiring HTTPS for everyone using .app websites. Over the past few years, Google has increased security, and has the numbers to back it up. Last year, 64 percent of android users using Chrome were protected, and 42 percent the year before. This is all thanks to Google’s decisions, which include flagging websites using HTTP to send and receive private information. This year, Google has stated that they will be flagging all websites not using HTTPS as insecure, starting this July.

Before launching publically, Google sent private invitations to VIPs. Some of those that the reached out to are already live using .app names. Some of those users include Cash.app, Picnic.app, Trail.app, and many more. For a full list and to check a domain of your own, click here.

Google also came out and mentioned that the aim for this launch is to make domains affordable. They also mentioned that the prices for wholesale would be around $12-15 and full retail would be about $20. Not bad compared to .soy and .how.

This could mean big business for Google and registering developers alike. Hurry up and get registered while domain names last!

Andrei Tiburca