# App Store Intelligence - Ratings & Price Change Monitor (`praise-most-high/app-store-intelligence`) Actor

Structured iOS App Store records (price, rating, version, developer) from Apple's public lookup API, with built-in change detection for scheduled monitoring.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/praise-most-high/app-store-intelligence.md
- **Developed by:** [angel nguyen](https://apify.com/praise-most-high) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.04 / 1,000 app records

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## App Store Intelligence — app details, ratings & price change monitor

> **Unofficial.** This Actor is **not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple Inc.**
> "Apple", "App Store" and "iTunes" are trademarks of Apple Inc., used here only to describe the
> public data source this Actor reads. It is an independent tool that calls Apple's own public
> iTunes Lookup/Search API.

Pull structured records for any app on the Apple App Store, in any of Apple's storefronts, by
App ID, bundle ID, or search term — and diff today's snapshot against yesterday's so you see
what *changed*, not just what *is*.

Every record carries the fields that move: `price`, `currency`, `rating`, `ratingsCount`,
`version`, `lastUpdated`, `category`, `developer`, plus screenshots, description and release
notes. Point the Actor at a competitor set, schedule it daily, and it emits one row per app
per run — or, in `changesOnly` mode, only the apps whose watched fields actually moved.

### What it is good for

- **Competitive price & rating watch** — get told the day a rival drops to free, or their rating
  slips below 4.0.
- **ASO / release tracking** — `version` + `lastUpdated` + release notes give you a shipping
  cadence for any app you care about.
- **Portfolio monitoring** — publishers watching their own catalogue across 175 storefronts.
- **Enrichment** — resolve a bundle ID or a search term to a full, typed app record.

### What it is not

It does not scrape the App Store website, it does not bypass anything, and it does not read
individual user reviews. It calls Apple's own public lookup API — which is why it is fast,
stable, and returns exactly what Apple publishes.

**Data freshness.** Straight from Apple on every run; nothing is cached between runs.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `appIds` | string\[] | `[]` | Apple numeric track IDs, e.g. `284882215`. Fastest path — uses the `/lookup` endpoint. |
| `bundleIds` | string\[] | `[]` | e.g. `com.facebook.Facebook`. Also resolved via `/lookup`. |
| `searchTerms` | string\[] | `[]` | Free-text app search. **Off the default path** — see Responsible use. |
| `country` | string | `us` | ISO-2 storefront code. 175 storefronts supported by Apple. |
| `limit` | integer | `20` | Max results per search term (1–200). Ignored for ID/bundle lookups. |
| `includeRatings` | boolean | `true` | Include `rating` / `ratingsCount`. |
| `changesOnly` | boolean | `false` | Emit a row only when a watched field differs from the previous run. |
| `watchFields` | string\[] | `["price","rating","version"]` | Fields compared when `changesOnly` is on. |
| `maxConcurrency` | integer | `5` | Deliberately conservative. |

`changesOnly` keeps its previous snapshot in the Actor's own named key-value store, keyed by
`appId+country`. The first run has no baseline, so it emits everything and says so in the log.

At least one of `appIds`, `bundleIds`, `searchTerms` must be non-empty; the Actor exits with a
clear message rather than a silent empty dataset if all three are blank.

### Output

One dataset item per app per run:

```
appId, appName, bundleId, developer, developerId, category, genres[],
price, currency, formattedPrice, rating, ratingsCount, currentVersionRating,
version, releaseDate, lastUpdated, releaseNotes, description,
contentRating, size, languages[], screenshots[], icon, storeUrl,
country, scrapedAt
```

Plus, when `changesOnly` is on: `changedFields[]`, `previous{}`, `previousSeenAt`.

### Responsible use

**Public data only.** The Actor reads Apple's public iTunes Lookup and Search endpoints over
plain HTTPS. No account, no API key, no session cookie, no CAPTCHA solving, no headless browser,
no proxy rotation.

**No personal data.** No user names, no individual review text, no device identifiers, no
purchase history. Rating fields are Apple's published aggregates, never per-person records.

**robots.txt, stated plainly.** Checked live against `itunes.apple.com/robots.txt`:
`/lookup?id=` is **allowed**; `/search*` is **disallowed**. Accordingly the default path is
`/lookup` (`appIds`/`bundleIds` never touch `/search`), `searchTerms` is opt-in and empty by
default, the search path is rate-limited to ≤1 request/second regardless of `maxConcurrency`,
and search is used only to resolve a term to app IDs — the full record still comes from
`/lookup`. The Actor backs off exponentially on any 403/429 rather than retrying hard.

**Your obligations as a user.** Do not republish Apple's descriptions, screenshots or icons as
your own content. Apple's aggregate ratings are Apple's; attribute them. App metadata may be
copyrighted by the app's developer — this is a research and monitoring tool, not a
redistribution pipeline.

# Actor input Schema

## `appIds` (type: `array`):

Apple numeric track IDs, e.g. 284882215 (Facebook). The fastest and most reliable input — resolved via Apple's /lookup endpoint.

## `bundleIds` (type: `array`):

Reverse-DNS bundle identifiers, e.g. com.facebook.Facebook. Also resolved via /lookup.

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Free-text app search. Optional and off by default: itunes.apple.com/robots.txt disallows /search\*, so this actor keeps search opt-in, rate-limits it to 1 request/second, and uses it only to resolve terms to app IDs. Prefer App IDs or Bundle IDs where you can.

## `country` (type: `string`):

ISO-2 storefront code. Apple operates 175 storefronts; prices and availability differ between them.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Max apps returned per search term. Ignored for App ID / Bundle ID lookups.

## `includeRatings` (type: `boolean`):

Include Apple's published aggregate rating and rating count. These are aggregates only — no individual user reviews are collected.

## `changesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Compare each app against the previous run's snapshot and emit a row ONLY when a watched field changed. The first run has no baseline, so it emits everything and logs that it did.

## `watchFields` (type: `array`):

Fields compared when 'Emit changes only' is on.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Concurrent requests to Apple. Deliberately conservative. The search path is separately capped at 1 request/second regardless of this value.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "appIds": [
    "284882215",
    "310633997"
  ],
  "bundleIds": [],
  "searchTerms": [],
  "country": "gb",
  "limit": 20,
  "includeRatings": true,
  "changesOnly": false,
  "watchFields": [
    "price",
    "rating",
    "version"
  ],
  "maxConcurrency": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `records` (type: `string`):

No description

## `csv` (type: `string`):

No description

## `datasetView` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "appIds": [
        "284882215",
        "310633997"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("praise-most-high/app-store-intelligence").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 = { "appIds": [
        "284882215",
        "310633997",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("praise-most-high/app-store-intelligence").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 '{
  "appIds": [
    "284882215",
    "310633997"
  ]
}' |
apify call praise-most-high/app-store-intelligence --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/5iSXzkEqveFgNSr5V/builds/9zc3RXVe8rCn7KDrD/openapi.json