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