# App Developer Watch · New & Removed Apps on Play + App Store (`thequietstack/app-developer-watch`) Actor

Track app publishers on Google Play and the App Store: list every app of a developer, then get alerts when they publish a new app or an app is taken down (removal verified on the app page). Competitor and portfolio monitoring.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thequietstack/app-developer-watch.md
- **Developed by:** [TheQuietStack](https://apify.com/thequietstack) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Marketing
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.10 / 1,000 app rows

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 Developer Watch: new and removed apps on Google Play + App Store

Watch **app publishers** instead of single apps. The first run lists every app of a developer on Google Play and the App Store; scheduled runs
report only **new apps** (a competitor launched something) and **removed apps** (taken down).
A removal is reported only after the app's own store page answers **404** — never because an app is just missing from a list.

**Typical uses:** competitor launch alerts for app studios · portfolio monitoring for investors and analysts · finding new apps of a publisher you work with.

### Input

```json
{ "developers": ["Spotify AB", "https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/spotify/id324684583", "https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=5700313618786177705"], "country": "us" }
```

Google Play: the developer name exactly as on Play, or the developer URL (`/store/apps/developer?id=…` or `/store/apps/dev?id=…`). App Store: the developer URL.

### Example (real run, 22 Oct 2026)

Spotify AB on Google Play: 6 apps · Spotify on the App Store: 4 apps · WhatsApp LLC / WhatsApp Inc.: 2 + 2 apps. Second run right after: +0 new, −0 removed.

```json
[
 {
  "store": "googleplay",
  "developer": "Spotify AB",
  "appId": "com.spotify.music",
  "title": "Spotify: Music and Podcasts",
  "status": "listed",
  "appUrl": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotify.music"
 },
 {
  "store": "googleplay",
  "developer": "Spotify AB",
  "appId": "com.spotify.tv.android",
  "title": "Spotify: Music & Podcasts",
  "status": "listed",
  "appUrl": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotify.tv.android"
 },
 {
  "store": "googleplay",
  "developer": "Spotify AB",
  "appId": "fm.anchor.android",
  "title": "Spotify for Creators",
  "status": "listed",
  "appUrl": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fm.anchor.android"
 }
]
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.003 per reported app row** (listed on the first run, then new/removed only), −10/−20/−30 % on higher Apify plans.
Unchanged apps on later runs are never charged.

### Data, fair use and limits

- Reads only developer pages and, to verify a removal, app pages — both allowed by robots.txt. No search endpoints, no private APIs, no login.
- **No personal data:** developer e-mail, address and phone are never read.
- Google Play shows a limited selection on pages of very large publishers (measured: 10 apps on Google LLC's page). Apps that drop off that list but are still live
  are kept and counted as `notListedButLive`, not reported as removed.
- Developer names must match Google Play exactly; a wrong name is reported as not found (HTTP 404).

# Actor input Schema

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

Google Play developer name (exactly as on Play, e.g. 'Spotify AB'), Play developer URL (…/store/apps/developer?id=… or …/dev?id=…), or App Store developer URL (https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/…/id…).

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

Two-letter store country.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language for Google Play pages.

## `firstRunMode` (type: `string`):

What the first run of a developer does. Later runs report only new and removed apps.

## `delayMs` (type: `integer`):

Politeness delay between store pages.

## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`):

Named key-value store with the last known app list per developer.

## `resetMemory` (type: `boolean`):

Treat this run as a first run for every developer (useful for tests).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "developers": [
    "Spotify AB",
    "https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/spotify/id324684583"
  ],
  "country": "us",
  "language": "en",
  "firstRunMode": "deliver",
  "delayMs": 800,
  "stateStoreName": "app-developer-watch-state",
  "resetMemory": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "developers": [
        "Spotify AB",
        "https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/spotify/id324684583"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thequietstack/app-developer-watch").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 = { "developers": [
        "Spotify AB",
        "https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/spotify/id324684583",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thequietstack/app-developer-watch").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 '{
  "developers": [
    "Spotify AB",
    "https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/spotify/id324684583"
  ]
}' |
apify call thequietstack/app-developer-watch --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/X9xpbFOJDK81DL7d1/builds/itb1uKjdUACbtff52/openapi.json