@haqq/app-store-scraper

Node.js module to scrape application data from the iTunes/Mac App Store. The goal is to provide an interface as close as possible to the google-play-scraper module.

Installation

npm i @haqq/app-store-scraper

Usage

Available methods:

• app: Retrieves the full detail of an application.
• list: Retrieves a list of applications from one of the collections at iTunes.
• search: Retrieves a list of apps that results of searching by the given term.
• developer: Retrieves a list of apps by the given developer id.
• privacy: Display the privacy details for the app.
• suggest: Given a string returns up to 50 suggestions to complete a search query term.
• similar: Returns the list of "customers also bought" apps shown in the app's detail page.
• reviews: Retrieves a page of reviews for the app.
• ratings: Retrieves the ratings for the app.

app

Retrieves the full detail of an application. Options:

• id: the iTunes "trackId" of the app, for example 553834731 for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the appId should be provided.
• appId: the iTunes "bundleId" of the app, for example com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the id should be provided.
• country: the two letter country code to get the app details from. Defaults to us. Note this also affects the language of the data.
• lang: language code for the result text. Defaults to undefined, so country specific language should be used automatically.

• ratings: load additional ratings information like ratings number and histogram

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store.app({ id: 553834731 }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

Results:

{ id: 553834731,
  appId: 'com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga',
  title: 'Candy Crush Saga',
  url: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/candy-crush-saga/id553834731?mt=8&uo=4',
  description: 'Candy Crush Saga, from the makers of Candy Crush ...',
  icon: 'http://is5.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple30/v4/7a/e4/a9/7ae4a9a9-ff68-cbe4-eed6-fe0a246e625d/source/512x512bb.jpg',
  genres: [ 'Games', 'Entertainment', 'Puzzle', 'Arcade' ],
  genreIds: [ '6014', '6016', '7012', '7003' ],
  primaryGenre: 'Games',
  primaryGenreId: 6014,
  contentRating: '4+',
  languages: [ 'EN', 'JA' ],
  size: '73974859',
  requiredOsVersion: '5.1.1',
  released: '2012-11-14T14:41:32Z',
  updated: '2016-05-31T06:39:52Z',
  releaseNotes: 'We are back with a tasty Candy Crush Saga update ...',
  version: '1.76.1',
  price: 0,
  currency: 'USD',
  free: true,
  developerId: 526656015,
  developer: 'King',
  developerUrl: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/king/id526656015?uo=4',
  developerWebsite: undefined,
  score: 4,
  reviews: 818816,
  currentVersionScore: 4.5,
  currentVersionReviews: 1323,
  screenshots:
   [ 'http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple49/v4/7a/8a/a0/7a8aa0ec-976d-801f-0bd9-7b753fdaf93c/screen1136x1136.jpeg',
     ... ],
  ipadScreenshots:
   [ 'http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple49/v4/db/45/cf/db45cff9-bdb6-0832-157f-ac3f14565aef/screen480x480.jpeg',
     ... ],
  appletvScreenshots: [],
  supportedDevices:
   [ 'iPhone-3GS',
     'iPadWifi',
     ... ]}

Example with ratings option:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store
  .app({ id: 553834731, ratings: true })
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Results:

{ id: 553834731,
  appId: 'com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga',

  // ... like above

  ratings: 652230,
  histogram: {
    '1': 7004,
    '2': 6650,
    '3': 26848,
    '4': 140625,
    '5': 471103
  }
}

list

Retrieves a list of applications from one of the collections at iTunes. Options:

• collection: the collection to look up. Defaults to collection.TOP_FREE_IOS, available options can be found here.
• category: the category to look up. This is a number associated with the genre for the application. Defaults to no specific category. Available options can be found here.
• country: the two letter country code to get the list from. Defaults to us.
• lang: language code for the result text. Defaults to undefined, so country specific language should be used automatically.
• num: the amount of elements to retrieve. Defaults to 50, maximum allowed is 200.
• fullDetail: If this is set to true, an extra request will be made to get extra attributes of the resulting applications (like those returned by the app method).

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store
  .list({
    collection: store.collection.TOP_FREE_IPAD,
    category: store.category.GAMES_ACTION,
    num: 2,
  })
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Returns:

[
  {
    id: '1091944550',
    appId: 'com.hypah.io.slither',
    title: 'slither.io',
    icon: 'http://is4.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple30/v4/68/d7/4d/68d74df4-f4e7-d4a4-a8ea-dbab686e5554/mzl.ujmngosn.png/100x100bb-85.png',
    url: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slither.io/id1091944550?mt=8&uo=2',
    price: 0,
    currency: 'USD',
    free: true,
    description: 'Play against other people online! ...',
    developer: 'Steve Howse',
    developerUrl:
      'https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/steve-howse/id867992583?mt=8&uo=2',
    developerId: '867992583',
    genre: 'Games',
    genreId: '6014',
    released: '2016-03-25T10:01:46-07:00',
  },
  {
    id: '1046846443',
    appId: 'com.ubisoft.hungrysharkworld',
    title: 'Hungry Shark World',
    icon: 'http://is5.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple60/v4/08/1a/8d/081a8d06-b4d5-528b-fa8e-f53646b6f797/mzl.ehtjvlft.png/100x100bb-85.png',
    url: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hungry-shark-world/id1046846443?mt=8&uo=2',
    price: 0,
    currency: 'USD',
    free: true,
    description: 'The stunning sequel to Hungry ...',
    developer: 'Ubisoft',
    developerUrl:
      'https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/ubisoft/id317644720?mt=8&uo=2',
    developerId: '317644720',
    genre: 'Games',
    genreId: '6014',
    released: '2016-05-04T09:43:06-07:00',
  },
];

search

Retrieves a list of apps that results of searching by the given term. Options:

• term: the term to search for (required).
• num: the amount of elements to retrieve. Defaults to 50.
• page: page of results to retrieve. Defaults to to 1.
• country: the two letter country code to get the similar apps from. Defaults to us.
• lang: language code for the result text. Defaults to en-us.
• idsOnly: (optional, defaults to false): skip extra lookup request. Search results will contain array of application ids.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store
  .search({
    term: 'panda',
    num: 2,
    page: 3,
    country: 'us',
    lang: 'lang',
  })
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Results:

[
  { id: 903990394,
    appId: 'com.pandarg.pxmobileapp',
    title: 'Panda Express Chinese Kitchen',
    (...)
  },
  {
    id: 700970012,
    appId: 'com.sgn.pandapop',
    title: 'Panda Pop',
    (...)
  }
]

developer

Retrieves a list of applications by the give developer id. Options:

• devId: the iTunes "artistId" of the developer, for example 284882218 for Facebook.
• country: the two letter country code to get the app details from. Defaults to us. Note this also affects the language of the data.
• lang: language code for the result text. Defaults to undefined, so country specific language should be used automatically.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store.developer({ devId: 284882218 }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

Results:

[
  { id: 284882215,
    appId: 'com.facebook.Facebook',
    title: 'Facebook',
    (...)
  },
  { id: 454638411,
    appId: 'com.facebook.Messenger',
    title: 'Messenger',
    (...)
  },
  (...)
]

privacy

Retrieves the ratings for the app. Currently only for US App Store. Options:

• id: the iTunes "trackId" of the app, for example 553834731 for Candy Crush Saga.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store
  .privacy({
    id: 324684580,
  })
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Returns:

{
  "managePrivacyChoicesUrl": null,
  "privacyTypes": [
    {
      "privacyType": "Data Used to Track You",
      "identifier": "DATA_USED_TO_TRACK_YOU",
      "description": "The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:",
      "dataCategories": [
        {
          "dataCategory": "Contact Info",
          "identifier": "CONTACT_INFO",
          "dataTypes": [
            "Email Address",
            "Phone Number"
          ]
        },
        ...
      ],
      "purposes": []
    },
    ...
  ]
}

suggest

Given a string returns up to 50 suggestions to complete a search query term. A priority index is also returned which goes from 0 for terms with low traffic to 10000 for the most searched terms.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store.suggest({ term: 'panda' }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

Results:

[
  { term: 'panda pop' },
  { term: 'panda pop free' },
  { term: 'panda' },
  { term: 'panda express' },
  { term: 'panda games' },
  { term: 'panda pop 2' },
  ...
]

similar

Returns the list of "customers also bought" apps shown in the app's detail page. Options:

• id: the iTunes "trackId" of the app, for example 553834731 for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the appId should be provided.
• appId: the iTunes "bundleId" of the app, for example com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the id should be provided.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store.similar({ id: 553834731 }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

Results:

[
  {
    id: 632285588,
    appId: 'com.nerdyoctopus.dots',
    title: 'Dots: A Game About Connecting',
    (...)
  },
  {
    id: 727296976,
    appId: 'com.sgn.cookiejam',
    title: 'Cookie Jam',
    (...)
  }
  (...)
]

reviews

Retrieves a page of reviews for the app. Options:

• id: the iTunes "trackId" of the app, for example 553834731 for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the appId should be provided.
• appId: the iTunes "bundleId" of the app, for example com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the id should be provided.
• country: the two letter country code to get the reviews from. Defaults to us.
• page: the review page number to retrieve. Defaults to 1, maximum allowed is 10.
• sort: the review sort order. Defaults to store.sort.RECENT, available options are store.sort.RECENT and store.sort.HELPFUL.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store
  .reviews({
    appId: 'com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga',
    sort: store.sort.HELPFUL,
    page: 2,
  })
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Returns:

[ { id: '1472864600',
    userName: 'Linda D. Lopez',
    userUrl: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/reviews/id324568166',
    version: '1.80.1',
    score: 5,
    title: 'Great way to pass time or unwind',
    text: 'I was a fan of Bejeweled many moons ago...',
    updated: '2021-07-26T18:26:24-07:00',
    url: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/review?id=553834731&type=Purple%20Software' },,
  { id: '1472864708',
    userName: 'Jennamaxkidd',
    userUrl: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/reviews/id223990784',
    version: '1.80.1',
    score: 1,
    title: 'Help! THE PROBLEM IS NOT FIXED!',
    text: 'STILL HAVING THE SAME ISSUE.  It\'s happening again...',
    updated: '2021-07-26T18:04:41-07:00',
    url: 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/review?id=553834731&type=Purple%20Software' },
  (...)
]

ratings

Retrieves the ratings for the app. Options:

• id: the iTunes "trackId" of the app, for example 553834731 for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the appId should be provided.
• appId: the iTunes "bundleId" of the app, for example com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga for Candy Crush Saga. Either this or the id should be provided.
• country: the two letter country code to get the reviews from. Defaults to us.

Example:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper');

store
  .ratings({
    appId: 'com.midasplayer.apps.candycrushsaga',
  })
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Returns:

{
  ratings: 652719,
  histogram: {
    '1': 7012,
    '2': 6655,
    '3': 26876,
    '4': 140680,
    '5': 471496
  }
}

Memoization

Since every library call performs one or multiple requests to an iTunes API or web page, sometimes it can be useful to cache the results to avoid requesting the same data twice. The memoized function returns the store object that caches its results:

var store = require('@haqq/app-store-scraper'); // regular non caching version
var memoized = require('app-store-scraper').memoized(); // cache with default options
var memoizedCustom = require('app-store-scraper').memoized({
  maxAge: 1000 * 60,
}); // cache with default options

memoized
  .app({ id: 553834731 }) // will make a request
  .then(() => memoized.app({ id: 553834731 })); // will resolve to the cached value without requesting

The options available are those supported by the memoizee module. By default up to 1000 values are cached by each method and they expire after 5 minutes.