# App Update Tracker — iOS Version & Changelog via iTunes | $2/1K (`bovi/app-update-tracker`) Actor Snapshot iOS app version, changelog, ratings and metadata from the Apple iTunes lookup API. No key required. Use with scheduled runs to detect new releases. Pay per result. - **URL**: https://apify.com/bovi/app-update-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [Vitalii Bondarev](https://apify.com/bovi) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, MCP servers - **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.94 / 1,000 apps This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## iOS App Update Tracker — Version & Changelog Monitor | $1/1K | No Key **Competitor intelligence teams, ASO managers, and app review sites** use this actor to get notified the moment a competitor ships a new iOS version — before it hits the charts. **$1.00 per 1,000 app snapshots.** Change-detection events billed additionally when a version update is detected. **Worked example:** - 100 apps tracked daily = 100 snapshots/day → **$0.10/day** (~$3/month) - 500 apps tracked weekly = 500 snapshots/week → **$0.50/week** (~$2/month) - 1,000 apps (one-time batch metadata pull) = 1,000 snapshots → **$1.00** Snapshot iOS app version, changelog, ratings and metadata from the **Apple iTunes lookup API** (`itunes.apple.com/lookup`). Fully public — no API key, no authentication. Use with **scheduled runs** to detect when a competitor (or your own app) releases a new version. Each run produces a snapshot; compare datasets to see what changed. **Best practice:** schedule this actor to run daily via Apify Scheduler. The `release_notes` field tells you exactly what changed before users do. Set up a webhook to Slack or email when `version` changes. Use with n8n or Zapier to auto-post to Slack when a competitor updates. ### Sample output ```json { "app_id": "284882215", "name": "Facebook", "version": "473.0", "release_date": "2026-05-28T00:00:00Z", "release_notes": "Bug fixes and performance improvements.", "rating": 2.3, "rating_count": 8200000, "developer": "Meta Platforms, Inc.", "parse_confidence": 1.0 } ```` *** ### Features - Version string + release date for the current version - Changelog / release notes (what changed in this update) - Ratings (overall + current version), rating count - Price, file size, genres, content rating, minimum OS version - Developer name, bundle ID, artwork URL - Multi-app batch: pass up to hundreds of IDs in one run - Country code selector — compare same app across App Stores - `parse_confidence` + `warnings` in every record — drift detection built in - Pay Per Result (PPE) — you only pay for actual snapshots returned ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `appIds` | list | Yes | App Store IDs (e.g. `284882215`) or App Store URLs | | `country` | string | No | Country code, default `us`. Examples: `gb`, `de`, `jp` | **App ID formats accepted:** - Plain numeric: `284882215` - App Store URL: `https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215` ### Output schema | Field | Type | Notes | |---|---|---| | `app_id` | str | Numeric App Store ID | | `name` | str | App name | | `version` | str | Current version string | | `release_date` | ISO str | currentVersionReleaseDate | | `release_notes` | str|null | Changelog text for current version | | `first_release_date` | ISO str | Original release date | | `price` | float | 0.0 for free | | `currency` | str | ISO 4217 (e.g. USD) | | `rating` | float|null | Average user rating | | `rating_count` | int|null | Total ratings | | `rating_current_version` | float|null | Rating for current version only | | `developer` | str | Developer name | | `primary_genre` | str|null | Primary App Store category | | `genres` | list | All genres | | `description` | str|null | Long app description | | `content_rating` | str|null | Age rating (e.g. 12+) | | `minimum_os_version` | str|null | Min iOS version | | `file_size_bytes` | int|null | Download size in bytes | | `store_url` | str | App Store URL | | `artwork_url` | str|null | 512×512 icon URL | | `country` | str | Queried country code | | `bundle_id` | str|null | Bundle identifier | | `scraped_at` | ISO str | Run timestamp | | `parse_confidence` | float | 0.0–1.0 parse quality score | | `warnings` | list | Machine-readable quality flags | ### FAQ **Do I need an API key?** No. This actor uses Apple's public iTunes lookup API — no auth, no proxy. **What formats can I export?** JSON, CSV, Excel, or JSONL — from the Apify dataset UI or REST API. **How do I get alerted when an app updates?** Use Apify Scheduler (daily) + a webhook to Slack or email. Pipe results to n8n or Zapier to compare `version` across runs and fire alerts on change. **What if an app ID is not found?** The actor logs a warning and skips that ID. Apps not available in the selected country storefront will be marked as `not_found_in_country` in the run summary. *** ### Use cases - **Competitor monitoring** — schedule daily runs to catch version bumps and read changelogs before users do - **Release tracking** — track your own app's release history across countries - **App metadata auditing** — collect pricing, rating and genre data at scale - **App Store research** — batch-lookup hundreds of apps for market research ### vs. alternatives | Feature | This actor | AppFollow | Sensor Tower | AppTweak | |---|---|---|---|---| | Batch 100s of apps | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Changelog / release notes | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | partial | | Per-country tracking | ✅ | partial | ✅ | partial | | Pay-per-use (no subscription) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Cost | $1/1K | $99+/mo | $99+/mo | $99+/mo | *(Verify competitor prices at publish time — adjust table accordingly.)* **parse\_confidence** — every record carries a 0.0–1.0 data quality score. Score < 0.5 → check the `warnings` field. ### Use with AI agents (MCP) All actors in this suite are available via the Apify MCP server. Connect to Claude, GPT-4o, or n8n to let AI agents pull live App Store data on demand — market research, competitor monitoring, and ASO tracking automated end-to-end. MCP config: `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=bovi/app-update-tracker` ### Also in this suite - [Apple App Store Scraper](#) — full metadata + reviews - [Google Play Store Scraper](#) — Android ecosystem - [ASO Keyword Rank Tracker](#) — ranking intelligence - [App Store Charts Scraper](#) — market surveillance ### Technical notes - Endpoint: `https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id={ids}&country={cc}&entity=software` - Batching: up to 100 IDs per request (API supports 200; conservative for safety) - Rate limits: handled with exponential backoff - Stack: Python 3.13 + curl\_cffi + Apify SDK ### Integrations Built for competitor-intelligence and ASO teams detecting the moment a rival iOS app ships a new version — the JSON/dataset output drops into the tools you already run, no glue code: - **n8n / Make / Zapier** — trigger a run or pipe every new dataset item into 500+ apps (Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack, HubSpot, your database) with no code: [n8n](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/n8n), [Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make), [Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier). - **Webhooks** — fire your own endpoint the moment a run finishes, to push results straight into your pipeline ([docs](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks)). - **MCP server** — expose this actor as a tool to Claude, Cursor, or any [MCP client](https://mcp.apify.com) so an AI agent can pull this data mid-conversation ([guide](https://blog.apify.com/how-to-use-mcp/)). - **API & SDKs** — fetch the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel through the Apify REST API or the Python / JS SDKs. See all [Apify integrations](https://apify.com/integrations). ### More scrapers from our toolkit Building a data pipeline? These actors pair well with this one — each runs on your own Apify account with the same pay-per-result pricing, no subscription: - [Appstore Charts](https://apify.com/bovi/appstore-charts) - [Appstore Reviews](https://apify.com/bovi/appstore-reviews) - [ASO Keyword Tracker](https://apify.com/bovi/aso-keyword-tracker) - [Google Play Scraper](https://apify.com/bovi/google-play-scraper) - [Google Search (SERP) Scraper](https://apify.com/bovi/google-serp-structural) - [Similarweb Traffic Scraper](https://apify.com/bovi/similarweb-scraper) Chain any of them together from the **Integrations** tab (the *Run succeeded* trigger) to build a multi-step workflow — one actor's output feeds the next. ### Use it from your existing tools #### Use with Claude Desktop / Cursor / Cline (MCP) Load this actor as a tool in your AI assistant. Call it directly from your AI assistant via the Apify MCP server — no Store browsing needed. Paste this into your MCP client config (e.g. `claude_desktop_config.json`) and restart the client: ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify-app-update-tracker": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@apify/actors-mcp-server", "--tools", "bovi/app-update-tracker" ], "env": { "APIFY_TOKEN": "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" } } } } ``` Replace `YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN` with your own Apify API token (free at apify.com → Settings → Integrations). Curated to a handful of tools so the agent selects reliably. #### Works with Clay Run this actor as an HTTP enrichment step inside a Clay table: - **Method:** `POST` - **URL:** `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token={{apify_token}}` - **Body (JSON):** map your Clay columns to the actor input (see the Input section above), e.g. `{"appIds": "{{clay_column}}"}` The run finishes synchronously and returns the dataset rows straight into your Clay table. It runs on Apify's cloud under your own token and usage. Synchronous runs must complete within 300 seconds. # Actor input Schema ## `appIds` (type: `array`): Numeric App Store IDs (e.g. '284882215') or App Store URLs (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215). At least one required. ## `country` (type: `string`): Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code for the App Store to query (e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'de'). Affects pricing, ratings and availability. ## Actor input object example ```json { "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664" ], "country": "us" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): Dataset containing app update records (app\_id, name, version, release\_date, release\_notes, price, currency, rating, rating\_count, file\_size\_bytes, developer, primary\_genre, store\_url, country, etc.) # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664" ], "country": "us" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("bovi/app-update-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664", ], "country": "us", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("bovi/app-update-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "appIds": [ "284882215", "544007664" ], "country": "us" }' | apify call bovi/app-update-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=bovi/app-update-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "App Update Tracker — iOS Version & Changelog via iTunes | $2/1K", "description": "Snapshot iOS app version, changelog, ratings and metadata from the Apple iTunes lookup API. No key required. Use with scheduled runs to detect new releases. Pay per result.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "OtExpseQtqbCrBm3i" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-bovi-app-update-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-bovi-app-update-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/bovi~app-update-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-bovi-app-update-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "appIds" ], "properties": { "appIds": { "title": "App Store IDs or URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Numeric App Store IDs (e.g. '284882215') or App Store URLs (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215). At least one required.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "country": { "title": "Country code", "type": "string", "description": "Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code for the App Store to query (e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'de'). Affects pricing, ratings and availability.", "default": "us" } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```