App Store Scraper (Google Play + Apple App Store)

For a specific list of apps (defined in apps.json) this produces one combined CSV with core metadata, the last-updated date, and the final rating (average + total number of ratings). Python, free libraries only.

What it uses

Store	Source
Google Play	google-play-scraper (scrapes public pages)
Apple App Store	iTunes Lookup API (official, free)

No paid services, no API keys.

Setup

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Configure — apps.json

{
  "settings": {
    "country": "us",        // store country code
    "lang": "en",           // language (Play only)
    "delay_seconds": 1.0    // pause between requests (avoid blocks)
  },
  "google_play": [
    { "app_id": "com.whatsapp" }        // the "id=" value in the Play URL
  ],
  "app_store": [
    { "app_id": 310633997, "name": "WhatsApp" }   // the numeric "id" in the App Store URL ("name" is just a label)
  ]
}

Finding IDs

• Play Store: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatsapp → use com.whatsapp
• App Store: apps.apple.com/us/app/whatsapp-messenger/id310633997 → use 310633997

Run

python scraper.py

Output — output/app_data.csv (one row per app, both stores together)

Column	Meaning
store	google_play or app_store
app_id, title, developer, category	identity
price, currency, free	pricing
avg_rating	final average star rating
total_ratings	total number of ratings
text_review_count	number of text reviews (Play only)
last_updated	date the app was last updated
version	latest version
url	store listing URL

UTF-8 with BOM — opens cleanly in Excel.

Limitations (important)

• No "all apps" list exists. Neither store exposes a full catalog; you scrape only the apps you list here. Use discover.py to auto-fill apps.json from top charts.
• Rate limits / blocking — keep delay_seconds > 0; heavy use may need proxies.
• Terms of Service — both stores restrict automated scraping. Fine for internal research at small scale; get legal sign-off before commercial redistribution.
• Per-country data — results differ by country.