iOS App Data Scraper API
Our iOS app data scraper runs Apple's iTunes Search API for you: pass a term and get each catalog match back as JSON with id, title, artist, type, genre, artwork, and store URL. Set media to software to narrow the results to iOS apps.
Why it is hard
Apple's iTunes Search API is free and key-free, but it throttles at roughly 20 requests per minute per IP and returns a 403 block page once you cross the line, which stalls any real batch job. Its results also mix every media type by default, so an iOS-app pull needs the right media filter and careful IP rotation to run at scale.
Quickstart
curl "https://api.appstorescraperapi.com/api/v1/itunes/search?q=meditation&media=software&limit=10&api_key=$API_KEY"import requests
BASE = "https://api.appstorescraperapi.com"
API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
# Search Apple's catalog. media=software narrows the results to iOS apps.
data = requests.get(
f"{BASE}/api/v1/itunes/search",
params={
"q": "meditation", # the search term
"media": "software", # software = iOS apps; all = whole catalog
"limit": 10, # up to 200 results
"country": "us", # storefront, two-letter ISO code
"api_key": API_KEY,
},
timeout=30,
).json()
print(data["query"], "-", data["total_results"], "results")
for item in data["results"]:
print(item["position"], item["type"], item["title"], "-", item["id"])Response
{
"query": "coldplay",
"page": 1,
"total_results": 20,
"results": [
{
"position": 1,
"id": "1807954924",
"title": "Coldplay: Music of Spheres - Live at River Plate",
"url": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/coldplay-music-of-spheres-live-at-river-plate/id1807954924?uo=4",
"artist": "Paul Dugdale",
"type": "feature-movie",
"thumbnail": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Video221/v4/c0/9b/97/c09b971d-0df5-3e04-0298-1de57f1cc453/COLDPLAY_MOS_.jpg/100x100bb.jpg",
"genre": "Concert Films"
},
{
"position": 11,
"id": "1792305199",
"title": "The Forest is the Path",
"url": "https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/the-forest-is-the-path/id1792305199?uo=4",
"artist": "Gary Lightbody",
"type": "audiobook",
"thumbnail": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music221/v4/78/a3/1a/78a31a16-0fcc-d43e-50aa-3aef5567410a/9780008751920.jpg/100x100bb.jpg",
"genre": "Biographies & Memoirs"
}
]
}| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
query | string | The search term echoed back from your request. |
page | integer | The result page number for this response, starting at 1. |
total_results | integer | Apple's reported result count for the query. |
results | array | The catalog matches, each an object with the fields below. |
position | integer | The item's rank in the results, starting at 1. |
id | string | The Apple catalog id for the item (trackId, collectionId, or artistId, whichever applies). |
title | string | The item name (track, collection, or artist name). |
url | string | The item's Apple store URL, on apps.apple.com, books.apple.com, itunes.apple.com, or similar depending on type. |
Use it for
iOS app keyword search
App id resolution
Cross-catalog lookups
Media catalog enrichment
Under the hood
- Media filtering The media parameter narrows results to iOS apps with software, or to any Apple media type, or leaves the whole catalog with all.
- Up to 200 results per call One query returns up to 200 catalog matches, each with id, title, artist, type, genre, artwork, and store URL already parsed.
- Anti-bot and proxy rotation Rotating proxies with anti-bot handling spread requests across IPs to get past Apple's roughly 20 request per minute per IP limit.
- Auto-retry across pools A rate-limited or blocked fetch retries through direct, free, datacenter, and residential tiers before a response is returned.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 requests | Testing and small jobs |
| Pro | $0.60 / 1k | Production workloads |
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.90 / 1k | Spiky or one-off volume |
Median response 2.6s. You only pay for successful requests.
FAQ
What is an iOS app data scraper?
An iOS app data scraper is a tool that returns iOS app records as structured data. Our iOS app data scraper API is built on Apple's iTunes Search API: pass a term with media set to software and it returns the matching iOS apps, each with its App Store id, title, developer, type, genre, artwork, and store URL as JSON. Hand any app id to the product endpoint for the full listing.
How do I search only for iOS apps?
Set the media parameter to software. The iTunes Search API returns every media type by default, so software filters the results down to iOS apps. The example response on this page shows a media=all query for coldplay, which is why it returns concert films and audiobooks; adding media=software would return apps instead. Each app result carries the App Store id you can enrich through appstore/product.
What media types can this endpoint return?
The iTunes Search API covers Apple's whole catalog. Besides software for iOS apps, the media parameter accepts movie, podcast, music, musicVideo, audiobook, shortFilm, tvShow, ebook, and all. Leaving it on all searches everything at once, which is useful when you want any catalog match for a term rather than one media type.
How is this different from the App Store search endpoint?
The App Store search endpoint is app-only and returns rich app fields like rating, price, and version for each result. This iTunes search endpoint spans Apple's entire catalog and returns a lighter, uniform shape (id, title, artist, type, genre, artwork, url) across every media type. Use App Store search for deep iOS app detail, and iTunes search when you want cross-catalog coverage or to resolve names to Apple ids.
Do I need an Apple key to use it?
No. Apple's iTunes Search API is key-free, and you only need an appstorescraperapi key passed as the api_key query parameter. There is no Apple developer account and no OAuth. The value we add is getting past Apple's per-IP rate limit with proxy rotation and retries. The free tier includes 1,000 requests per month.
How fast is the iOS app data scraper API?
Median end-to-end response is about 2.6 seconds, including proxy routing, retries, and parsing. Apple's iTunes Search API throttles at roughly 20 requests per minute per IP and returns a 403 past that, so the proxy rotation and retries behind the endpoint are what let a batch of app lookups run without stalling.