IT.COM

.app Some people are missing the point with .app

NameSilo
Watch

Truespin Domains

Top Member
Impact
1,545
I keep hearing people say things like - what's the point of .app when you simply visit the app store and download the file.

That might be the situation TODAY, but in the coming years we're going to see a real shift towards Progressive Web Apps (PWA) - apps that essentially run in your browser.

Google are already doing this to a certain extent with their Chromebooks, but I very much believe that in a few years downloading an app will be considered pretty outdated. We stream music and we stream video - the same model will soon apply to apps.

With websites and apps essentially merging, developers will increasingly want to differentiate functional applications from standard websites, and this is where the .app domain is likely to come into play. Icons on your phone will increasingly link through to websites - .app websites!

So, before you dismiss .app, think about the evolution technology, not just where we are now.

I think a lot of rubbish is being registered, but .app names that are applicable to mobile apps could be quite in demand.

The SSL requirements will also prevent spammers from using the domain, meaning that it's likely to become a highly trusted extension, known for quality applications. And let's not forget, Google is pushing this extension. GOOGLE - the most influential company in the world, and the company that controls a vast proportion of the app and mobile phone market.
 
Last edited:
16
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
And let's not forget, Google is pushing this extension. GOOGLE - the most influential company in the world, and the company that controls a vast proportion of the app and mobile phone market.
..and is/was the same influential company that was behind .mobi. :xf.eek: Two times a charm?
 
Last edited:
15
•••
Virtually the same argument people had for .mobi. When push comes to shove, .app and .com have the same purpose, but one is infinitely more valuable and recognizable. I hope people have success selling them but I don’t see this turning out any better than the rest.
 
1
•••
A lot off applications... ie online stores are run by web apps or pieces of code placed on to wordpress pages. I still don't want my store to be mystore.app I will much rather have mystore.com or in my country mystore.ca

a .app address limits you.... imagine the next facebook.app.... what happens if it evolves past an app then you are stuck with that domain.

I still don't buy it..... how many times must we show that these extensions have limited application?

Now you can argue with that but even google is using

sheets.google.com
docs.goodle.com
slides.google.com

How come not sheets.app?

In the end other companies won't be inclined to run their platforms on a google extension.

It will be a cold day in Hades before microsoft uses.... word.app over microsoft.com/word
 
5
•••
Virtually the same argument people had for .mobi. When push comes to shove, .app and .com have the same purpose, but one is infinitely more valuable and recognizable. I hope people have success selling them but I don’t see this turning out any better than the rest.

So you think people will keep downloading apps forever? And that web based apps will never take off?
 
2
•••
A lot off applications... ie online stores are run by web apps or pieces of code placed on to wordpress pages. I still don't want my store to be mystore.app I will much rather have mystore.com or in my country mystore.ca

a .app address limits you.... imagine the next facebook.app.... what happens if it evolves past an app then you are stuck with that domain.

I still don't buy it..... how many times must we show that these extensions have limited application?

Now you can argue with that but even google is using

sheets.google.com
docs.goodle.com
slides.google.com

How come not sheets.app?

In the end other companies won't be inclined to run their platforms on a google extension.

It will be a cold day in Hades before microsoft uses.... word.app over microsoft.com/word

Whilst your viewpoint is logically sound, it ignores the fact that APP has become a cultural phenomenon. People LIKE apps. Companies like MS will always follow the dollar, so if they feel they can get more people using their products by using .app then they will, Google owned or not.
 
3
•••
So you think people will keep downloading apps forever? And that web based apps will never take off?
Whether they do or not, it doesn’t mean they need a .app domain name
 
7
•••
.app is just another .biz or .net. The only ntld's that make sense to me are exact match service or products, i.e. .rentals, .cars, .loans.
 
2
•••
So you think people will keep downloading apps forever? And that web based apps will never take off?
How about .site? Every website is a site today. Don’t see .site become a default standard of website.
 
5
•••
@whenpillarsfall

Whilst your viewpoint is logically sound, it ignores the fact that APP has become a cultural phenomenon. People LIKE apps. Companies like MS will always follow the dollar, so if they feel they can get more people using their products by using .app then they will, Google owned or not.

People yeas, companies no

I cannot see Apple or Microsoft jumping on the .app market and they have app stores too.

Googles owning .app is not a positive for competing companies and I cannot see them using it exactly because of this.

As @hawkeye has already pointed out.... .mobi failed (well not really, it's still here) and the rush to buy them was just as intense but in the end it fizzled.

You will have a tough time convincing experienced domainers that there is going to be a land rush for .app

There might be an initial rush but it will level off and the extension will see similar use to .mobi if not a bit higher but that's about it.

Mind you.... that is my opinion and I too will be watching closely.
 
0
•••
2
•••
i think google's primary purpose for spending $25 mil on .app was to keep it out of the hands of Apple...
 
4
•••
5
•••
The SSL requirements will also prevent spammers from using the domain, meaning that it's likely to become a highly trusted extension, known for quality applications.
Anybody can set up SSL. Spammers can adjust. The spam I get is DKIM-compliant these days. But you don't need SSL to send E-mail anyway.
I don't think spam is going to be a problem though, the spammers already have plenty of extensions available. A few extensions attract spammers because they are cheap and/or the registries are not cracking down on abuse.
But there is nothing special that makes .app more trustworthy than other open extensions.

And let's not forget, Google is pushing this extension. GOOGLE - the most influential company in the world, and the company that controls a vast proportion of the app and mobile phone market.
They have their own share of failures and abandoned projects too.

..and is/was the same influential company that was behind .mobi. :xf.eek: Two times a charm?
And you'd think they would have learned a thing or two from the past. On the other hand, they just need to sell enough to make the experience profitable.

And they have other TLDs to sell to domainers for example:
.BOO .ESQ .RSVP .SOY
and others
These TLDs are surely super strong and very promissing since Google is selling them :)
 
4
•••
Whilst your viewpoint is logically sound, it ignores the fact that APP has become a cultural phenomenon.

And that happened before this launch. People trying to justify/market yet another, needless new extension.
 
Last edited:
3
•••
The only thing that matters is if end-users like it. CCTLD's with great sales history and no marketing, .me, .io
 
Last edited:
0
•••
It is funny that there is a TLD for apps, that is raising so many expectations, while apps were supposed to be domain killers.
 
14
•••
Branded company, businesses will stick to .com .net .org or local cctld. If in future all apps are webapps it does not mean brands or businesses have to shift their domain with .app domain. Now app is for app developers only, but most of the app developers will avoid hefty renewal. Who left?
 
Last edited:
2
•••
Once this becomes normal it won’t make any sense to differentiate them through the domain extension anymore.

Designating a mobile website as such made sense to some when .mobi came out. But now mobile is the new normal and .com sites automatically adjust to mobile depending on your device. Hardly anyone would think of using .mobi to label their website as mobile friendly anymore, or operate a separate website experience for mobile on .mobi.

Once these “progressive web apps” become normal, .app will seem anachronistic, and running such websites apps on .com will likely be the norm.
 
1
•••
Branded company, businesses will stick to .com .net .org or local cctld. If in future all apps are webapps it does not mean brands or businesses have to shift their domain with .app domain. Now app is for app developers only, but most of the app developers will avoid hefty renewal. Who left?

I agree totally. Lots of college kids have pretty good app building skills these days , Some are very good without any real business acumen as to how to apply. Similarly there's the similar age (or slightly older) group with pretty good market awareness and not the necessary building skills. I believe it's a pretty smart move by Google to try and harness the skills available and try to centralise it around their own extension. (still a scary price paid even though small fry to them)

I don't see it as a good investment for domain speculators, purely because this is going to be more of a 'Application' grooming ground for young entrepreneurs the domain with the .app extension is going to be pretty much a low cost priority for the new talent. I'm sure a few major companies will run with it but, your not going to see it in general commercial/advertising use as the .com and cctld market. No company or business is going to want to find itself tied to a single usage as dot app denotes.

it's development ground, if you haven't got the skills - I see little point in owning the domain. The really relevant domains have already been priced at a premium
 
Last edited:
1
•••
People would prefer to download apps and use them rather than stream them. Streaming movies and music already use up so much of our internet bandwidth, imagine if all our apps were streaming as well, especially with a whole lot running at the same time. Thats why I just download all my music, movies etc. With the amount of cloud storage you get these days ( 1TB with an office365 subscription) , who needs to stream anything.
 
0
•••
Even though I not a fan, if you can get a short good keyword or good short acronym in any new extension, you can always make a little profit on them, thats why I always get a handful of names in new extensions, but I certainly dont go reg-crazy like some people.
 
1
•••
2
•••
Now you can argue with that but even google is using

sheets.google.com
docs.goodle.com
slides.google.com

How come not sheets.app?

In the end other companies won't be inclined to run their platforms on a google extension.

It will be a cold day in Hades before microsoft uses.... word.app over microsoft.com/word

They have Drive.app, Glass.app, Pixel.app, Gmail.app, Android.app, Chrome.app, Youtube.app, G.app, Blogger.app, Adwords.app, Adsense.app, Doubleclick.app, Picasa.app, Streetview.app, Hangouts.app, Daydream.app, Pay.app, Next.app, Nest.app, IO.app, Firebase.app either registered or reserved and likely many others.

I get your point, but it's a bit early days yet to say they're not going to use them.

.app is just another .biz or .net. The only ntld's that make sense to me are exact match service or products, i.e. .rentals, .cars, .loans.

You managed to select probably 3 of the worst received gTLDs. .Cars has 312 registered domains (Probably due to the $2k reg fees on them, but also there aren't many practical uses for these names), rentals 10k and loans 4,234.
 
3
•••
People would prefer to download apps and use them rather than stream them. Streaming movies and music already use up so much of our internet bandwidth, imagine if all our apps were streaming as well, especially with a whole lot running at the same time. That's why I just download all my music, movies etc. With the amount of cloud storage you get these days ( 1TB with an office365 subscription) , who needs to stream anything.

This is so short sighted. In fact, it's not just short sighted - it's wrong.

You're advocating that downloading things (music, movies) is preferable to streaming them, tell that to the 70 million subscribers to Spotify and 125 million Netflix subscribers. If you think that apps can't be accessed on demand - just like a website and it's resources - then you're living in the dark ages.

Downloading of music went out of the window about 10 years ago. From a commercial perspective, 'streaming' or having on-demand applications available as a service is a model that all of the big companies are moving to, Office365 has 120 million business users.

Then, just to add to the madness, you talk about saving bandwidth but say that you have all of your stuff stored on cloud storage...

I hope that you've got the licenses to the music and movies that you're storing in the cloud too.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/4/16850742/spotify-subscriber-count-70-million-users
https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/16/netflix-subscriber-count-hits-125-million/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-office-365-now-has-120-million-business-users/
 
3
•••
Back