# App Store Scraper — Apple App Search, Ratings & App Details (`northbell/app-store-scraper`) Actor

Apple App Store scraper: search apps by keyword (up to 200 results per search and country), look up apps by URL or ID, or list a developer's apps — rating, rating count, price, developer, genre, version, release dates, size, languages. Tracks rank changes and new apps between runs. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/northbell/app-store-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Northbell](https://apify.com/northbell) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.20 / 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## App Store Scraper

Search the **Apple App Store** the way a user does and get every app as clean JSON — **rating, rating count, price, developer, genre, version, release dates, size, languages** and the App Store link. Or look up specific apps by URL or ID, or list every app a developer publishes.

Run the same searches on a schedule and each row tells you its **rank**, how it **moved since the last run** (`rankChange`), and whether it is **new in that search** (`isNewInSearch`) — a simple way to watch a category or a set of keywords.

### What you get

| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| `search`, `rank`, `previousRank`, `rankChange`, `isNewInSearch` | for search results: the position in App Store order and how it changed since the last run (`null` on the first run) |
| `name`, `appId`, `bundleId`, `appUrl`, `iconUrl` | the app |
| `developer`, `developerId`, `sellerUrl` | who publishes it |
| `averageRating`, `ratingCount`, `averageRatingCurrentVersion`, `ratingCountCurrentVersion` | ratings, all-time and for the current version |
| `price`, `currency`, `isFree` | price in that country |
| `genre`, `genres`, `contentRating` | category and age rating |
| `version`, `releasedAt`, `currentVersionReleasedAt` | current version and dates — spot apps that stopped updating |
| `sizeBytes`, `minimumOsVersion`, `languages`, `supportsIpad` | technical details |
| `description`, `releaseNotes` | with *Include description and release notes* |

### Use it for

- **Market research** — every app for a keyword, with ratings and rating counts, in one table
- **Keyword and category watch** — schedule it and see who moved up, who dropped and who is new
- **Competitor lists** — all apps of a developer, or a list of rivals by ID, refreshed on a schedule

### Input

```json
{ "searches": ["habit tracker", "budget app"], "countries": ["us", "gb"], "maxResultsPerSearch": 100 }
```

Data comes from Apple's public iTunes Search and Lookup service — no login, no API key. Apple allows about 20 requests a minute, so large runs are paced automatically.

For the **reviews** of an app, use the [App Store Reviews Scraper](https://apify.com/northbell/app-store-reviews-scraper). To track one app's rank for its keywords every day, see [App Store Rank & Rating Watch](https://apify.com/northbell/app-store-rank-and-review-watch).

### Pricing

**$1.50 per 1,000 apps**, plus $0.01 per run. Error rows are free. The $0.01 run-start fee is the one charge every run pays, even one that returns nothing.

### For AI agents

`{"searches": ["meditation"], "countries": ["us"], "maxResultsPerSearch": 20}` returns the top 20 apps with ratings. Rows have `type`: `search-result`, `app`, `developer-app` or `error`.

# Actor input Schema

## `searches` (type: `array`):

What you would type in the App Store search box. Each search returns the apps in App Store order with their rank.

## `apps` (type: `array`):

App Store URLs or numeric app IDs to look up directly.

## `developers` (type: `array`):

Developer page URLs (apps.apple.com/…/developer/…/id123) or developer IDs — returns all of their apps.

## `countries` (type: `array`):

Two-letter App Store country codes, e.g. "us", "gb", "jp". Each search runs in each country. Empty = "us".

## `maxResultsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Apple returns at most 200 apps per search.

## `device` (type: `string`):

Search the iPhone store, the iPad store, or both. "All" returns apps for either device.

## `includeDescription` (type: `boolean`):

Off for a smaller table.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searches": [
    "habit tracker"
  ],
  "countries": [
    "us"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 50,
  "device": "all",
  "includeDescription": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `apps` (type: `string`):

Apps with rating, rating count, price, developer, genre and version.

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searches": [
        "habit tracker"
    ],
    "countries": [
        "us"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("northbell/app-store-scraper").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searches": ["habit tracker"],
    "countries": ["us"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("northbell/app-store-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searches": [
    "habit tracker"
  ],
  "countries": [
    "us"
  ]
}' |
apify call northbell/app-store-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,northbell/app-store-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/XjbWIOV4eXc3Q4ZCL/builds/tr9O1p1sAd3mXFMDs/openapi.json