apple-appstore-metadata-extractor 0.1.9

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_id - Apple App Store ID
• bundle_id - App bundle identifier
• url - App Store URL
• name - App name
• subtitle - App subtitle/tagline (web scraping required)
• developer_name - Developer name
• developer_id - Developer ID
• developer_url - Developer page URL

Categories

• category / primary_category - Primary category name
• category_id / primary_category_id - Primary category ID
• categories - List of all categories
• category_ids - List of all category IDs

Pricing & Purchases

• price - App price (numeric value)
• formatted_price - Formatted price string (e.g., "$4.99" or "Free")
• currency - Currency code (e.g., "USD")
• in_app_purchases - Boolean indicating if app has IAPs
• in_app_purchase_list - Detailed list of IAPs (web scraping required):
  • name - IAP item name
  • price - Formatted price
  • price_value - Numeric price
  • type - IAP type (auto_renewable_subscription, non_consumable, etc.)
  • currency - Currency code

Version Information

• current_version - Current version number
• version_date / current_version_release_date - Release date
• whats_new / release_notes - What's new in this version
• version_history - List of previous versions (web scraping required)
• initial_release_date - First release date
• last_updated - Last update to any field

Content & Description

• description - Full app description
• content_rating - Age rating (e.g., "4+", "12+")
• content_advisories - List of content warnings

Languages (web scraping required)

• languages - Human-readable language names (e.g., "English", "Spanish")
• language_codes - ISO language codes (e.g., "EN", "ES")

Ratings & Reviews

• average_rating - Average user rating (0-5)
• rating_count - Total number of ratings
• average_rating_current_version - Rating for current version
• rating_count_current_version - Ratings for current version
• rating_distribution - Star breakdown (web scraping required)
• reviews - User reviews list (web scraping required)

Media Assets

• icon_url - App icon URL (512x512)
• icon_urls - Dictionary of multiple icon sizes
• screenshots - List of iPhone screenshot URLs
• ipad_screenshots - List of iPad screenshot URLs

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
• support_url - Support website (alias)
• marketing_url - Marketing website

Technical Details

• file_size_bytes - Size in bytes
• file_size_formatted - Human-readable size (e.g., "245.8 MB")
• minimum_os_version - Minimum iOS version required
• supported_devices - List of compatible devices

Features & Capabilities

• features - List of app features/capabilities
• is_game_center_enabled - Game Center support
• is_vpp_device_based_licensing_enabled - VPP device licensing

Privacy Information (web scraping required)

• privacy - Detailed privacy information including:
  • data_used_to_track
  • data_linked_to_you
  • data_not_linked_to_you
  • privacy_details_url

Related Content (web scraping required)

• developer_apps - Other apps by the same developer
• similar_apps - "You might also like" recommendations
• rankings - Chart positions (e.g., {"Games": 5, "Overall": 23})

Metadata

• data_source - Source of the data (itunes_api, web_scrape, combined)
• extracted_at / scraped_at - When data was collected
• raw_data - Raw response data (optional, for debugging)

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

See DEVELOPMENT.md for detailed development setup and workflow instructions.

Quick Start:

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/appstore-metadata-extractor-python.git
cd appstore-metadata-extractor-python
./dev-setup.sh

# Activate environment and develop
source venv/bin/activate

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.