The top-level domain (TLD) “.app” is a generic TLD included in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet, which was launched officially by Google in 2015. TLDs are primarily categorized into two main types: generic TLDs (gTLDs) and country-code TLDs (ccTLDs). The “.app” falls under the category of the gTLDs, similar to other gTLDs such as “.com”, “.net”, or “.org”. It is dedicated to application developers and related entities (source: ICANN).
Google acquired the rights to manage the “.app” TLD in February 2015, winning an auction run by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), with a bid of $25 million (source: VentureBeat). This outcome made Google the Registry Operator responsible for setting the policies of the domain use. Google’s main objective behind this is to provide a dedicated platform for application developers to showcase their apps. This TLD aims to be a safe, more secure domain space (HTTPS-only TLD) for apps to make it easy for people to recognize and trust web-based applications (source: Google Registry).
A key feature of the “.app” TLD is the enforcement of the HTTPS protocol (source: Google Security Blog). The HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) allows secure transactions and secures connections, reducing the risk of tampering, intrusion and information interception. This means that all websites ending with “.app” domain need to have a SSL certificate installed to maintain this secure connection.
One example of the “.app” TLD in action can be seen with the site “freeletics.app”, a fitness and lifestyle app’s official website. Since this TLD is recognized as a secure space, it facilitates businesses like Freeletics to establish trust with their customers from the first interaction (source: Freeletics website).
In summary, the “.app” TLD serves as a dedicated and secure space for app developers and any businesses associated with apps. It not only helps in brand recognition but also provides inherent security benefits due to its enforcement of HTTPS protocol.
Sources:
1. ICANN [https://www.icann.org/]
2. Google Registry [https://www.registry.google/]
3. Google Security Blog [https://security.googleblog.com/2018/02/a-secure-web-is-here-to-stay.html]
4. VentureBeat [https://venturebeat.com/2015/02/26/google-paid-25m-to-buy-the-app-top-level-domain-from-icann/]
5. Freeletics website [https://www.freeletics.com/en/]
