08. 02. 2021
Every Android app has its unique identifier called applicationId
and you have to choose it wisely because it cannot be changed later.
Here are two main reasons why applicationId
is important:
- It becomes a part of the app’s Google Play URL. Everyone can see it there and it impacts SEO as well.
- In order to change it, you have to create a new app on Google Play and convince all of your users to download it.
Android applicatioinId is constructed in a very similar way as Java packages are. You need a domain owned by an app owner and use it as a base, add an app-specific postfix to it and you have it:
com.yourdomain.appspecificpostfix
No dashes and special characters in applicationId
Unfortunately, the applicationId cannot contain dashes and other special characters. Dots and alphanumeric characters are the only ones allowed. Here are some examples of good identifiers for main projects apps:
com.vocabularyminer.app
com.integromat.app
com.vocabularyminer.android
com.integromat.android
Add a postfixapp
or android
for the main project
We recommend adding app
or android
as a postfix for main project/company apps as in the example above.
Other postfixes for secondary apps
Use other postfixes for secondary apps like in example:
com.vocabularyminer.schools
com.integromat.otherapp
No domain? Use client
When you are an agency as we are, use the domain of the client:
com.clientdomain.app
If there is no domain related to a client nor its project, there is the client
postfix as the last option to consider. We use something like this:
com.skoumal.client.app
If you need to dig deeper into the topic, more details are available here: https://developer.android.com/studio/build/application-id
Good luck!
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