# App Update Tracker — iOS Version & Changelog via iTunes | $2/1K (`bovi/app-update-tracker`) Actor Snapshot iOS app version, changelog, ratings and metadata from the Apple iTunes lookup API. No key required. Use with scheduled runs to detect new releases. Pay per result. - **URL**: https://apify.com/bovi/app-update-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [Vitalii Bondarev](https://apify.com/bovi) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, MCP servers - **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.94 / 1,000 apps This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## iOS App Update Tracker — Version & Changelog Monitor | $1/1K | No Key **Competitor intelligence teams, ASO managers, and app review sites** use this actor to get notified the moment a competitor ships a new iOS version — before it hits the charts. **$1.00 per 1,000 app snapshots.** Change-detection events billed additionally when a version update is detected. **Worked example:** - 100 apps tracked daily = 100 snapshots/day → **$0.10/day** (~$3/month) - 500 apps tracked weekly = 500 snapshots/week → **$0.50/week** (~$2/month) - 1,000 apps (one-time batch metadata pull) = 1,000 snapshots → **$1.00** Snapshot iOS app version, changelog, ratings and metadata from the **Apple iTunes lookup API** (`itunes.apple.com/lookup`). Fully public — no API key, no authentication. Use with **scheduled runs** to detect when a competitor (or your own app) releases a new version. Each run produces a snapshot; compare datasets to see what changed. **Best practice:** schedule this actor to run daily via Apify Scheduler. The `release_notes` field tells you exactly what changed before users do. Set up a webhook to Slack or email when `version` changes. Use with n8n or Zapier to auto-post to Slack when a competitor updates. ### Sample output ```json { "app_id": "284882215", "name": "Facebook", "version": "473.0", "release_date": "2026-05-28T00:00:00Z", "release_notes": "Bug fixes and performance improvements.", "rating": 2.3, "rating_count": 8200000, "developer": "Meta Platforms, Inc.", "parse_confidence": 1.0 } ```` *** ### Features - Version string + release date for the current version - Changelog / release notes (what changed in this update) - Ratings (overall + current version), rating count - Price, file size, genres, content rating, minimum OS version - Developer name, bundle ID, artwork URL - Multi-app batch: pass up to hundreds of IDs in one run - Country code selector — compare same app across App Stores - `parse_confidence` + `warnings` in every record — drift detection built in - Pay Per Result (PPE) — you only pay for actual snapshots returned ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `appIds` | list | Yes | App Store IDs (e.g. `284882215`) or App Store URLs | | `country` | string | No | Country code, default `us`. Examples: `gb`, `de`, `jp` | **App ID formats accepted:** - Plain numeric: `284882215` - App Store URL: `https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215` ### Output schema | Field | Type | Notes | |---|---|---| | `app_id` | str | Numeric App Store ID | | `name` | str | App name | | `version` | str | Current version string | | `release_date` | ISO str | currentVersionReleaseDate | | `release_notes` | str|null | Changelog text for current version | | `first_release_date` | ISO str | Original release date | | `price` | float | 0.0 for free | | `currency` | str | ISO 4217 (e.g. USD) | | `rating` | float|null | Average user rating | | `rating_count` | int|null | Total ratings | | `rating_current_version` | float|null | Rating for current version only | | `developer` | str | Developer name | | `primary_genre` | str|null | Primary App Store category | | `genres` | list | All genres | | `description` | str|null | Long app description | | `content_rating` | str|null | Age rating (e.g. 12+) | | `minimum_os_version` | str|null | Min iOS version | | `file_size_bytes` | int|null | Download size in bytes | | `store_url` | str | App Store URL | | `artwork_url` | str|null | 512×512 icon URL | | `country` | str | Queried country code | | `bundle_id` | str|null | Bundle identifier | | `scraped_at` | ISO str | Run timestamp | | `parse_confidence` | float | 0.0–1.0 parse quality score | | `warnings` | list | Machine-readable quality flags | ### FAQ **Do I need an API key?** No. This actor uses Apple's public iTunes lookup API — no auth, no proxy. **What formats can I export?** JSON, CSV, Excel, or JSONL — from the Apify dataset UI or REST API. **How do I get alerted when an app updates?** Use Apify Scheduler (daily) + a webhook to Slack or email. Pipe results to n8n or Zapier to compare `version` across runs and fire alerts on change. **What if an app ID is not found?** The actor logs a warning and skips that ID. Apps not available in the selected country storefront will be marked as `not_found_in_country` in the run summary. *** ### Use cases - **Competitor monitoring** — schedule daily runs to catch version bumps and read changelogs before users do - **Release tracking** — track your own app's release history across countries - **App metadata auditing** — collect pricing, rating and genre data at scale - **App Store research** — batch-lookup hundreds of apps for market research ### vs. alternatives | Feature | This actor | AppFollow | Sensor Tower | AppTweak | |---|---|---|---|---| | Batch 100s of apps | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Changelog / release notes | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | partial | | Per-country tracking | ✅ | partial | ✅ | partial | | Pay-per-use (no subscription) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Cost | $1/1K | $99+/mo | $99+/mo | $99+/mo | *(Verify competitor prices at publish time — adjust table accordingly.)* **parse\_confidence** — every record carries a 0.0–1.0 data quality score. Score < 0.5 → check the `warnings` field. ### Use with AI agents (MCP) All actors in this suite are available via the Apify MCP server. Connect to Claude, GPT-4o, or n8n to let AI agents pull live App Store data on demand — market research, competitor monitoring, and ASO tracking automated end-to-end. MCP config: `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=bovi/app-update-tracker` ### Also in this suite - [Apple App Store Scraper](#) — full metadata + reviews - [Google Play Store Scraper](#) — Android ecosystem - [ASO Keyword Rank Tracker](#) — ranking intelligence - [App Store Charts Scraper](#) — market surveillance ### Technical notes - Endpoint: `https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id={ids}&country={cc}&entity=software` - Batching: up to 100 IDs per request (API supports 200; conservative for safety) - Rate limits: handled with exponential backoff - Stack: Python 3.13 + curl\_cffi + Apify SDK ### Integrations Built for competitor-intelligence and ASO teams detecting the moment a rival iOS app ships a new version — the JSON/dataset output drops into the tools you already run, no glue code: - **n8n / Make / Zapier** — trigger a run or pipe every new dataset item into 500+ apps (Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack, HubSpot, your database) with no code: [n8n](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/n8n), [Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make), [Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier). - **Webhooks** — fire your own endpoint the moment a run finishes, to push results straight into your pipeline ([docs](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks)). - **MCP server** — expose this actor as a tool to Claude, Cursor, or any [MCP client](https://mcp.apify.com) so an AI agent can pull this data mid-conversation ([guide](https://blog.apify.com/how-to-use-mcp/)). - **API & SDKs** — fetch the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel through the Apify REST API or the Python / JS SDKs. See all [Apify integrations](https://apify.com/integrations). # Actor input Schema ## `appIds` (type: `array`): Numeric App Store IDs (e.g. '284882215') or App Store URLs (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215). At least one required. ## `country` (type: `string`): Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code for the App Store to query (e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'de'). Affects pricing, ratings and availability. ## Actor input object example ```json { "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664" ], "country": "us" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): Dataset containing app update records (app\_id, name, version, release\_date, release\_notes, price, currency, rating, rating\_count, file\_size\_bytes, developer, primary\_genre, store\_url, country, etc.) # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664" ], "country": "us" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("bovi/app-update-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664", ], "country": "us", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("bovi/app-update-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664" ], "country": "us" }' | apify call bovi/app-update-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=bovi/app-update-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "App Update Tracker — iOS Version & Changelog via iTunes | $2/1K", "description": "Snapshot iOS app version, changelog, ratings and metadata from the Apple iTunes lookup API. No key required. Use with scheduled runs to detect new releases. Pay per result.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "tsd4zElW6LLfL3Wi5" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-bovi-app-update-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-bovi-app-update-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-bovi-app-update-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "appIds" ], "properties": { "appIds": { "title": "App Store IDs or URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Numeric App Store IDs (e.g. '284882215') or App Store URLs (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215). At least one required.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "country": { "title": "Country code", "type": "string", "description": "Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code for the App Store to query (e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'de'). Affects pricing, ratings and availability.", "default": "us" } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```