iOS App Store Competitor Research

Extract comprehensive app data and screenshots from Apple App Store listings for competitive analysis.

Workflow

1. Get the App Store URL from the user
2. Run the scraper script to fetch data and download screenshots
3. Review the generated outputs with the user

Usage

Run the scraper with an App Store URL:

python3 scripts/scrape_app_store.py "<app_store_url>" "<output_directory>"

Example:

python3 scripts/scrape_app_store.py "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/slack/id618783545" ./competitor-analysis/slack

Output

The script generates in the output directory:

output_dir/
├── {app-slug}.json      # Full structured data
├── {app-slug}.md        # Formatted report
├── icon.png             # App icon
└── screenshots/
    ├── screenshot_01.png
    ├── screenshot_02.png
    └── ...

Data Extracted

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | title | App name | | subtitle | App tagline | | description | Full app description | | rating | Average star rating (1-5) | | rating_count | Number of ratings | | category | Primary category | | genres | All categories | | price | Price or "Free" | | developer | Developer name | | version | Current version | | size_bytes | App size | | age_rating | Content rating (4+, 12+, 17+) | | minimum_os_version | Required iOS version | | release_notes | What's New text | | languages | Supported languages | | screenshots | All screenshot URLs | | bundle_id | App bundle identifier |

Multiple Apps

To research several competitors, run the script for each app:

python3 scripts/scrape_app_store.py "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/competitor-a/id123" ./research/competitor-a
python3 scripts/scrape_app_store.py "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/competitor-b/id456" ./research/competitor-b

Notes

• The script uses the iTunes Lookup API as the primary data source (most reliable)
• Screenshots are downloaded at the highest available resolution
• Both iPhone and iPad screenshots are captured when available
• Output directory is created if it doesn't exist