📱 🍎 Apple App Store Reviews Scraper — Ratings, Text & Dates

Apple's owner-only API won't show you a competitor's reviews. App developers, agencies, and PMs pay to monitor the public App Store review feed for any app — theirs or the competition's.

Output is one None row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one review scraped (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.0013 per review scraped). Source: itunes.apple.com.

No login, no API key and no CAPTCHA solving are involved: the source is read logged-out.

Use cases by team

• Product managers: Track what users say about each release and catch regressions the moment reviews turn.
• Competitive / market intel: Monitor rival apps' reviews you have no API access to.
• Agencies: Stand up a review feed per client app and pipe it into reporting.
• Support / CX: Spot emerging complaints early and route them before they snowball.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run l85toAVLZvMk30XSA on build 0.1.18 (2026-09-17), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

app_id	review_id	title	author_handle	review_date	collected_at
284882215	14555664043	Full of fraud, scam, and gambling ads. Reported but none removed.	Chayuth Pirotesak	2026-09-16T01:22:45-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576859+00:00
284882215	14555674641	The ads are ridiculous	Jwest12	2026-09-16T01:27:29-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576856+00:00
284882215	14555686059	Password update	Newmoney702	2026-09-16T01:32:36-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576853+00:00
284882215	14555696119	Adds and other people	headleeson	2026-09-16T01:37:04-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576850+00:00
284882215	14555698130	Anne Christopher	Sharon Prince (Hays)	2026-09-16T01:37:58-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576847+00:00
284882215	14555744761	Kismet	floridamom126	2026-09-16T01:58:35-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576844+00:00
284882215	14555745697	Too many ads	vtx1300-honda	2026-09-16T01:59:01-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576841+00:00
284882215	14555756813	Nice	Missdhoomx	2026-09-16T02:03:52-07:00	2026-09-17T17:29:22.576838+00:00

The run finished with the status message: SUCCEEDED: emitted 25 item(s)

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• store (string/null) — Output field: store
• app_id (string/null) — Output field: app_id
• review_id (string/null) — Output field: review_id
• title (string/null) — Output field: title
• review_text (string/null) — Output field: review_text
• rating (number/null) — Output field: rating
• author_handle (string/null) — Output field: author_handle
• review_date (string/null) — Output field: review_date
• version (string/null) — Output field: version
• developer_response (string/null) — Output field: developer_response
• developer_response_date (string/null) — Output field: developer_response_date
• country (string/null) — Output field: country
• source_url (string/null) — Output field: source_url
• collected_at (string/null) — Output field: collected_at

What you get

• Public Apple App Store review entries: rating, title, review text, author, date, and app version
• Developer responses and response dates where present
• A normalized 14-field record per review with source URL and collection timestamp
• Bounded retries with explicit block / gone outcomes — you always know if zero means empty or blocked
• Optional watch mode that emits only new reviews and status changes on later runs

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "app_ids": [
    "284882215"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "language": "en",
  "max_items": 25,
  "watchMode": false,
  "sort": "most_recent"
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 25 × $0.0013 review-scraped + 0 × $0.10 watch-check = $0.05 on the Free tier — every delivered row was billed.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "app_ids": [
    "284882215"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "language": "en",
  "max_items": 5,
  "watchMode": false,
  "sort": "most_recent"
}

Caps the run at 5 rows — about $0.03 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 5 × $0.0013).

3. Watch mode on a schedule

{
  "app_ids": [
    "284882215"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "language": "en",
  "max_items": 25,
  "watchMode": true,
  "sort": "most_recent"
}

The first run seeds a private baseline and emits zero deltas; every later run emits one row per change, billed at $0.0013 each.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run l85toAVLZvMk30XSA, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "store": "apple",
  "app_id": "284882215",
  "review_id": "14555664043",
  "title": "Full of fraud, scam, and gambling ads. Reported but none removed.",
  "review_text": "80% of my feed are blatantly fraud, scam and gambling ads with repeated contents that any human that can read the language can know at a first glance. I reported every single one of those only to be replied back that they won’t remove those",
  "rating": 1,
  "author_handle": "Chayuth Pirotesak",
  "review_date": "2026-09-16T01:22:45-07:00",
  "version": "579.0.0",
  "developer_response": null,
  "developer_response_date": null,
  "country": "us",
  "source_url": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/review?id=284882215&type=Purple%20Software",
  "collected_at": "2026-09-17T17:29:22.576859+00:00"
}

🔧 How it works

Source. The actor reads itunes.apple.com — endpoints: https://itunes.apple.com/lookup, https://itunes.apple.com/search. Public pages and feeds only; nothing behind a login.

Transport. Requests go through Apify residential proxy.

Watch semantics. Snapshot mode (watch_mode: false) returns a preview. Watch mode keys every record on a source-native id, stores a private baseline in a named key-value store, and on each later run emits one delta row per change (new / changed / removed). A blocked fetch is never diffed, so a source outage cannot show up as a mass removal.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each review scraped is charged at the moment it is pushed (review-scraped); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count.

How it works

Give it one or more numeric App Store app IDs. It collects the public review-feed entries for each, with bounded retries and a fresh proxy session per attempt, then normalizes every review into one 14-field schema. It reads only public, logged-out surfaces — no login, no paywall, no access-control defeating.

Compliance & honest limits

• Public App Store review surfaces only — no login, CAPTCHA, paywall, or access-control defeating.
• Apple exposes a bounded, recent review window per app; this actor does not reconstruct the full lifetime history.
• A source-confirmed empty result is SUCCEEDED-0: GENUINE_EMPTY; exhausted block retries fail and truncated runs are PARTIAL.

About

Part of the NexGenData App Intelligence cluster. This is a dedicated fleet-2 actor; it does not disturb any earlier fleet listing. Built by NexGenData. Questions or need a custom feed? Open an issue on the Actor page.

Preview vs Watch mode

• Preview (watchMode = false): a one-shot pull of the current reviews — emitted and charged per review-scraped record. Keeps no baseline.
• Watch (watchMode = true): change detection — seeds a private baseline on the first run (zero deltas, no review-scraped billing), then on later runs emits only the new reviews since the baseline, plus one watch-check per run. A settled run with no new reviews reports WATCH_NO_DELTA and charges only the watch-check.

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

⏰ Set it on a schedule

A single run is a snapshot. The value is the feed: open the actor in Apify Console → Schedules → Create new, add this actor with input 3 above (watch_mode: true), and pick a cadence:

• Daily — 0 7 * * * (07:00 UTC): catch changes within a day.
• Weekly — 0 7 * * 1: a Monday digest.

Each run is independent; keep the same input on the schedule so the results stay comparable. Schedules can also POST results to a webhook (Console → Integrations).

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
Review scraped (review-scraped)	$0.0013	$0.0012	$0.001	$0.0009
Watch check (watch-check)	$0.10	$0.09	$0.08	$0.07

Worked at the live Free-tier price (watch mode, one delta per change):

• 8 review scrapeds: $0.02 start + 8 × $0.0013 = $0.03
• 25 review scrapeds: $0.02 start + 25 × $0.0013 = $0.05
• 100 review scrapeds: $0.02 start + 100 × $0.0013 = $0.15

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee only. A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 1024 MB.

Yield on the sample run: SUCCEEDED: emitted 25 item(s). max_items is a hard ceiling on what is delivered and billed, never a target.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public, logged-out pages and feeds published by itunes.apple.com. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, identifies itself, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. The source (itunes.apple.com) is read logged-out; the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input (in watch mode the first run always seeds the baseline and returns zero deltas); BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee only.

Q: How many rows can one run return?
A: Up to max_items (default 100). Raise the cap for a bigger run; you pay per delivered row.

Q: What does watch mode remember between runs?
A: A private baseline of source-native record ids in a named key-value store. Each later run diffs the live source against it and emits only changes.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs except the watch baseline. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other app store intelligence actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers itunes.apple.com. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Status says CAPPED → your cap (max_items) was reached → raise it for a bigger run.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.
• First watch run shows no deltas → expected: it seeds the baseline; changes appear from the second run.

🔗 Related Actors

• 📱 App Store & Google Play Metadata Scraper — One Schema — Scrape public Apple App Store and Google Play app metadata by app ID — title, developer, description, category, price, rating, rating count, version,…
• 🔑 ASO Keyword Rank Tracker — App Store & Google Play — Track App Store and Google Play keyword rankings for your apps — position within a searched depth, with a SERP fingerprint. Not-found-within-depth is…
• 🤖 Google Play Reviews Scraper — Ratings, Text & Replies — Scrape public Google Play reviews for any app — rating, text, thumbs-up, version, developer response, and date. Watch mode returns only new reviews.…
• 📈 App Store Rankings Tracker — Top Charts by Country — Track Apple App Store chart rankings (top-free/top-paid) by country and category — position, app, developer. Honest not_observed/source_blocked state…
• 🏢 About NexGenData — NexGen Watch is NexGenData's fleet of 256 public monitoring and lookup actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

⭐ Found this useful?

If this actor saved you a manual check, a quick review on the Apify Store helps other teams find it. Feature request or a source that changed? Open it from the Issues tab — every one is read.