# App Store apps - search, lookup, reviews (iTunes public API) (`retrainmap/app-store-apps`) Actor

App Store scraper on Apple's public iTunes Search API: one row per app - id, name, bundle id, seller, price, rating, rating count, version, release dates, genres, min OS, size, description, URL. Search by term or look up by id/bundle id in any country; optional review rows. $5 per 1,000 rows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/retrainmap/app-store-apps.md
- **Developed by:** [RetrainMap Team](https://apify.com/retrainmap) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 records

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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 apps - search, lookup, reviews (iTunes public API)

**Returns:** one row per App Store app: id, name, bundle id, seller, price, currency, average rating, rating count, version, release and update dates, genres, minimum OS, file size, description, store URL - and, optionally, one row per customer review (newest first).
**Input:** `{ "search_terms": ["todo list"], "country": "us", "max_records": 100 }` or `{ "app_ids": ["284882215", "com.burbn.instagram"], "include_reviews": true }`.
**Price:** $5.00 per 1,000 rows ($0.005 per app or review row) plus $0.10 per run. Pay per event; no subscription.

One row per app from Apple's public iTunes Search API (https://itunes.apple.com/search
and https://itunes.apple.com/lookup, no key) - search by keyword in any App Store country,
or look up known apps by numeric id or bundle id - with the app's metadata as Apple serves
it, normalised to one flat row. Turn on `include_reviews` to add the newest customer
reviews for every app from Apple's public customer-reviews RSS feed (title, text, stars,
version, author, date).

**The prefilled input (term "todo list", US store, 100 rows, no reviews) succeeds within
5 minutes and returns rows** - Apify auto-tests it daily.

### Data source and status

| | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Apple Inc. - iTunes Search API and the App Store customer-reviews RSS feed |
| API | https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=\&country=\&entity=software\&limit= and https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=|bundleId= - public, no key (documentation: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AudioVideo/Conceptual/iTuneSearchAPI/). Reviews: https://itunes.apple.com/{country}/rss/customerreviews/page={p}/id={id}/sortBy=mostRecent/json |
| What this Actor reads | One search request per term (`limit` <= 200), lookups 100 ids per request, review pages of 50; at most one request per 3 seconds by default (Apple documents ~20 Search API calls per minute) |
| Refresh cadence | Live on every run; `fetched_at` on each row is the fetch time. Ratings, prices and reviews are per store front (`country`) |
| Terms | Apple's Search API terms of use apply (https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html and the API documentation's usage notes): the data is for informational, non-misleading use with attribution to Apple. This Actor reads only the public, unauthenticated endpoints |
| Known caveats | A search returns at most 200 apps per term (the API's ceiling; Apple de-duplicates, so a 200-row request can return fewer) and there is no reliable paging - use several terms for breadth. Search relevance is Apple's own. The reviews feed serves the 500 newest reviews per app (10 pages of 50) and contains only reviews with text - star-only ratings are not in it, so review counts differ from `ratingCount`. Ids that do not exist in the chosen country are listed in the run summary, not guessed |

Honesty note: the rows are Apple's own fields renamed and flattened (`trackName -> name`,
`userRatingCount -> ratingCount`, `sellerName -> seller`); `description` and
`releaseNotes` are cut at 3,000 characters; nothing is inferred, summarised or classified
by this Actor, and a run stops with an error rather than guess when the API's shape changes.

Identification: the requests carry a product-token User-Agent and the operator's
contact address in the standard `From:` header (RFC 9110 §10.1.2).

### Input

| Field | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `search_terms` | array of strings | One search per term; <= 200 apps each |
| `app_ids` | array of strings | Numeric App Store ids (`284882215`, `id284882215`) and/or bundle ids (`com.burbn.instagram`) |
| `country` | string | Two-letter store front, default `us` |
| `max_records` | integer | Maximum app rows, default 100, at most 5,000 |
| `include_reviews` | boolean | Add review rows per app, default false |
| `max_reviews_per_app` | integer | Newest reviews per app, default 50, at most 500 |
| `request_interval_ms` | integer | Default 3000 (floor 1000) |
| `contact_email` | string | Sent in the `From:` header |

Example - Facebook and Instagram in the UK store with their 100 newest reviews each:

```json
{ "app_ids": ["284882215", "com.burbn.instagram"], "country": "gb", "include_reviews": true, "max_reviews_per_app": 100 }
```

### Output (dataset row)

App rows (`record_type = app`): `trackId`, `name`, `bundleId`, `seller`, `sellerId`,
`sellerUrl`, `price`, `formattedPrice`, `currency`, `averageUserRating`, `ratingCount`,
`averageUserRatingForCurrentVersion`, `ratingCountForCurrentVersion`, `version`,
`releaseDate`, `currentVersionReleaseDate`, `releaseNotes`, `primaryGenre`, `genres`,
`genreIds`, `contentAdvisoryRating`, `minimumOsVersion`, `fileSizeBytes`, `languages`,
`supportedDevicesCount`, `isGameCenterEnabled`, `artworkUrl`, `screenshotCount`,
`description` (<= 3,000 chars), `url`, `kind`, `country`, `matched_by` (`search:<term>`,
`lookup:id`, `lookup:bundleId`), `fetched_at`, `source`.

Review rows (`record_type = review`): `trackId`, `name`, `reviewId`, `reviewTitle`,
`reviewText`, `reviewRating` (1-5), `reviewVersion`, `reviewAuthor`, `reviewDate`,
`reviewVoteCount`, `reviewVoteSum`, `country`, `fetched_at`, `source`.

A run summary (filters, per-term result counts, ids not found, app and review row counts,
requests, whether the pay-per-event budget stopped the run) is stored as `RUN_SUMMARY` in
the run's key-value store.

### Pricing (pay per event)

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| `run-start` - once per run | $0.10 |
| `record` - per row written (app or review) | $0.005 |

The prefilled pull (<= 100 app rows) costs at most $0.60; 100 apps with 50 reviews each
(5,100 rows) cost $25.60. Rows stop when your run's maximum charge is reached; the run
summary says so.

### Operator

Steelyard Ventures LLC (RetrainMap) - info@steelyardclinical.com. Not affiliated with
Apple Inc. App Store, iTunes and Apple are trademarks of Apple Inc. The Actor writes only
to its own dataset and key-value store; it stores no credentials and sends nothing else.

# Actor input Schema

## `search_terms` (type: `array`):

One search per term (the API's own relevance ranking). Each term returns at most 200 apps - the Search API's ceiling. Empty is fine when app\_ids is given.

## `app_ids` (type: `array`):

Optional. Numeric App Store ids (284882215 or id284882215 - the number in the store URL) and/or bundle ids (com.burbn.instagram). Ids are looked up 100 per request; ids that do not exist in the chosen country are listed in the run summary.

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

Two-letter ISO country code of the App Store front: us, gb, de, fr, jp, in ... Prices, currency, ratings and reviews are per store front.

## `max_records` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many app rows. Review rows (if enabled) are on top of this and capped per app below.

## `include_reviews` (type: `boolean`):

Add one row per customer review (record\_type = review) from Apple's public customer-reviews RSS feed, newest first, for every app row. One request per 50 reviews, so 100 apps x 50 reviews = 100 more requests (~5 minutes at the default rate).

## `max_reviews_per_app` (type: `integer`):

Newest reviews per app when include\_reviews is on; 50 per request, at most 500 (the feed's 10-page ceiling).

## `request_interval_ms` (type: `integer`):

Politeness delay towards itunes.apple.com. Apple documents roughly 20 Search API calls per minute; the default 3000 ms keeps to that and the floor is 1000 ms.

## `contact_email` (type: `string`):

Sent in the standard From: request header so the data owner can reach the operator (RFC 9110 s10.1.2).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "search_terms": [
    "todo list"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "max_records": 100,
  "include_reviews": false,
  "max_reviews_per_app": 50,
  "request_interval_ms": 3000,
  "contact_email": "info@steelyardclinical.com"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

App rows and, when enabled, review rows; tell them apart by record\_type.

## `results_csv` (type: `string`):

The same rows as a CSV file.

# 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 = {
    "search_terms": [
        "todo list"
    ],
    "country": "us",
    "max_records": 100,
    "include_reviews": false
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("retrainmap/app-store-apps").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 = {
    "search_terms": ["todo list"],
    "country": "us",
    "max_records": 100,
    "include_reviews": False,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("retrainmap/app-store-apps").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 '{
  "search_terms": [
    "todo list"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "max_records": 100,
  "include_reviews": false
}' |
apify call retrainmap/app-store-apps --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/eqcVeJvKzdMdCgKaU/builds/jfZU3LH4airxJez8A/openapi.json