Is there a way to search the iOS app store online?

Question

I want to programmatically track my app's search ranking on Apple's app store. Is there any API or website to do this, outside of the 'App Store' app on my iPhone?

Solution 1

the following websites allow searching the iOS app store.

1. https://theappstore.org
2. http://fnd.io

Solution 2

I'm not sure how the exact ranking is reflected, but Apple now provides an JSON API call that you can make.

https://affiliate.itunes.apple.com/resources/documentation/itunes-store-web-service-search-api/

This includes the ability to add in a callback parameter so you can even incorporate it into a web app without having to parse the results on your server.

The end API call would looks something like this:

http://itunes.apple.com/search?term=props&entity=software&country=US&callback=lkasdfj

Solution 3

In case users are still looking for this. Apple finally made it possible to just use the apple.com website:

https://www.apple.com/ios/app-store/ Use the magnifying glass in the top right to search the apps.

Once you find the app you want, there is a unique URL that you could use to grab information for tracking or other purposes as well.

You can't do anything other than look at the app information at this time (no way to initiate a remote install to your phone or leave a review, that has to be done on the device)

Comments

[Gqqnbig]

I typed "photo" in the magnifying glass bar, but it doesn't show me any photo apps.

[Admin]

Unfortunately, it seems that many keywords are reserved for the entire apple site. If you search for a specific photo app that has a less generic name it might work, but "photo" moves you to a more global search. If you search for "Termius" or "Clash of Clans" it will search the app store as expected

[Masklinn]

Apparently the search system will try to infer a category for the results between "Explore" (apps, apparently), "Accessories", "Support" and "Apple Store". On https://www.apple.com/search/<term> it's (currently) possible to tack on the sel=explore query parameter to ensure it opens the explore tab, but who knows how long that'll work.

[Rakshitha Muranga Rodrigo]

Thanks a lot, this saved the day