apple-appstore-metadata-extractor 0.1.6

Extract and monitor metadata from Apple App Store applications

Apple App Store Metadata Extractor

Extract and monitor metadata from Apple App Store applications with ease.

Features

• 📱 Extract comprehensive app metadata - title, description, version, ratings, and more
• 💰 In-App Purchase details - extract names and prices of all IAP items
• 🔗 Support links - app support, privacy policy, and developer website URLs
• 🔄 Track version changes - monitor app updates and metadata changes over time
• 🚀 Async support - fast concurrent extraction for multiple apps
• 💪 Robust error handling - automatic retries and graceful error recovery
• 🛡️ Rate limiting - respect API limits and prevent blocking
• 🎨 Rich CLI - beautiful command-line interface with progress tracking
• 📊 Multiple output formats - JSON, pretty-printed, or custom formatting

Installation

pip install apple-appstore-metadata-extractor

Quick Start

Command Line

Extract metadata for a single app:

appstore-extractor extract https://apps.apple.com/us/app/example/id123456789

Extract from multiple apps:

appstore-extractor extract-batch apps.json

Monitor apps for changes:

appstore-extractor watch apps.json --interval 3600

Python Library

from appstore_metadata_extractor import AppStoreScraper

# Initialize scraper
scraper = AppStoreScraper()

# Extract single app metadata
metadata = scraper.extract("https://apps.apple.com/us/app/example/id123456789")
print(f"App: {metadata.title}")
print(f"Version: {metadata.version}")
print(f"Rating: {metadata.rating}")

# Access In-App Purchases
if metadata.in_app_purchases:
    print(f"\nIn-App Purchases ({len(metadata.in_app_purchase_list)} items):")
    for iap in metadata.in_app_purchase_list:
        print(f"  - {iap['name']}: {iap['price']}")

# Access Support Links
print(f"\nSupport Links:")
print(f"  App Support: {metadata.app_support_url}")
print(f"  Privacy Policy: {metadata.privacy_policy_url}")
print(f"  Developer Website: {metadata.developer_website_url}")

# Extract multiple apps
urls = [
    "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/app1/id111111111",
    "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/app2/id222222222"
]
results = scraper.extract_batch(urls)

Async Usage

import asyncio
from appstore_metadata_extractor import CombinedExtractor

async def main():
    extractor = CombinedExtractor()

    # Extract single app
    result = await extractor.extract("https://apps.apple.com/us/app/example/id123456789")

    # Extract multiple apps concurrently
    urls = ["url1", "url2", "url3"]
    results = await extractor.extract_batch(urls)

asyncio.run(main())

CLI Commands

extract - Extract single app metadata

appstore-extractor extract [OPTIONS] URL

Options:
  -o, --output PATH         Output file path
  -f, --format [json|pretty]  Output format (default: pretty)
  --no-cache               Disable caching
  --country TEXT           Country code (default: us)

extract-batch - Extract multiple apps

appstore-extractor extract-batch [OPTIONS] INPUT_FILE

Options:
  -o, --output PATH         Output file path
  -f, --format [json|pretty]  Output format
  --concurrent INTEGER     Max concurrent requests (default: 5)
  --delay FLOAT           Delay between requests in seconds

watch - Monitor apps for changes

appstore-extractor watch [OPTIONS] INPUT_FILE

Options:
  --interval INTEGER       Check interval in seconds (default: 3600)
  --output-dir PATH       Directory for history files
  --notify               Enable notifications for changes

Input File Format

For batch operations, use a JSON file:

{
  "apps": [
    {
      "name": "Example App 1",
      "url": "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/example-1/id123456789"
    },
    {
      "name": "Example App 2",
      "url": "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/example-2/id987654321"
    }
  ]
}

Extracted Fields

The extractor provides comprehensive app metadata including:

Basic Information

• App name, subtitle, and description
• Developer name and ID
• Bundle ID and App ID
• Categories and age rating
• Current version and release date
• File size and supported languages

Pricing & Purchases

• App price and currency
• In-App Purchases (web scraping required):
  • Item names and prices
  • IAP type detection (subscriptions, consumables, etc.)

Ratings & Reviews

• Average rating and rating count
• Rating distribution (web scraping required)
• User reviews (web scraping required)

Media Assets

• App icon URL (multiple sizes)
• Screenshot URLs (iPhone and iPad)

Support Links (web scraping required)

• App Support URL - Direct link to app support page
• Privacy Policy URL - Link to privacy policy
• Developer Website URL - Main developer website

Technical Details

• Minimum OS version
• Supported devices
• Version history

Migration Guide (v0.1.6)

If you were using CombinedAppStoreScraper, it has been consolidated into CombinedExtractor. The old class name still works via an alias, but we recommend updating your code:

# Old way (still works via alias)
from appstore_metadata_extractor import CombinedAppStoreScraper
scraper = CombinedAppStoreScraper()
result = scraper.fetch(url)

# New way (recommended)
from appstore_metadata_extractor import CombinedExtractor
extractor = CombinedExtractor()
metadata = extractor.fetch(url)  # Synchronous method
# or
result = await extractor.extract(url)  # Async method

The new CombinedExtractor offers:

• Full backward compatibility
• Better type safety
• Support for extraction modes (iTunes-only vs combined)
• Both sync and async interfaces

Advanced Usage

Custom Extraction Modes

from appstore_metadata_extractor import CombinedExtractor, ExtractionMode

extractor = CombinedExtractor()

# API-only mode (faster, less data)
result = await extractor.extract(url, mode=ExtractionMode.API_ONLY)

# Web scraping mode (slower, more complete)
result = await extractor.extract(url, mode=ExtractionMode.WEB_SCRAPE)

# Combined mode (default - best of both)
result = await extractor.extract(url, mode=ExtractionMode.COMBINED)

Rate Limiting Configuration

from appstore_metadata_extractor import RateLimiter

# Configure custom rate limits
rate_limiter = RateLimiter(
    calls_per_minute=20,  # iTunes API limit
    min_delay=1.0        # Minimum delay between calls
)

scraper = AppStoreScraper(rate_limiter=rate_limiter)

Caching

from appstore_metadata_extractor import CacheManager

# Configure cache
cache = CacheManager(
    ttl=300,  # Cache TTL in seconds
    max_size=1000  # Maximum cache entries
)

scraper = AppStoreScraper(cache_manager=cache)

Error Handling

The library provides robust error handling with automatic retries:

from appstore_metadata_extractor import AppNotFoundError, RateLimitError

try:
    metadata = scraper.extract(url)
except AppNotFoundError:
    print("App not found")
except RateLimitError:
    print("Rate limit exceeded, please wait")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Extraction failed: {e}")

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/appstore-metadata-extractor-python.git
cd appstore-metadata-extractor-python

# Install in development mode
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run linting
black src tests
isort src tests
flake8 src tests
mypy src

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Disclaimer

This tool is for educational and research purposes only. Make sure to comply with Apple's Terms of Service and robots.txt when using this tool. Be respectful of rate limits and implement appropriate delays between requests.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Beautiful Soup for web scraping
• Uses Rich for beautiful CLI output
• Powered by Pydantic for data validation

Related Projects

For a full-featured solution with web API, authentication, and UI, check out the parent project.