I know I promised last week to post about intra-app notification, and I'm still planning to but after chatting with Øivind Kjellnø over email, I decided to change directions for a little while. I'll get back to notifications but for today, I'm going to show you how to access your app reviews throughout the world.

As you know, iTunes currently exists in 60-odd countries. 62 if I've done my counting right. Each store has its own storefront code, which I have laboriously produced for you below. Seriously, this took forever! These country codes allow you to access AppStore for each country and retrieve the review data you're looking for.

AppStore's primary user review URL is

http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=%d&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=2&type=Purple+Software

, where that %d ID can be grabbed from the Application URL itself. To get that number, right-click any of your applications in iTunes, copy the URL and examine the 'id=' field in that link. You can set the page offset to any number desired.

The user review URL shown here returns the first page of the most recent (sortOrdering=2) reviews. You can retrieve those reviews directly from the Terminal command-line.

To talk to iTunes from curl, spoof the user agent to pretend to be iTunes and set your store front to one of the legal values. Here, I set the store by passing it as a header field using curl's -H switch.

curl -A "iTunes/4.2 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X 10.2)" -H
 "X-Apple-Store-Front: 143441-1" 
'http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=284222807&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=2&type=Purple+Software' 
| gunzip

The results are, to say the least, not very readable. You'll probably want to filter them out. Here's one way to do so, piping the results through the following really helps:

xmllint --format - | grep normalStyle | grep -v \"\>$ | grep 
-v "Sort by:" | grep -v "GotoURL" | grep -v "by.*<b>" 
| grep -v "Copyright" | sed "s/.*\">//" | sed "s/<.*//"

The last step involves looping this over all available stores. It's easy to throw together a perl script that does exactly that, opening the results in TextEdit. The source for that script follows at the bottom of this post.

Hopefully these steps will help readers who are looking to find out how their application is performing around the world. Let me know whether you find the techniques and script useful in the comments.

International Store Codes

United States 143441
Argentina 143505
Australia 143460
Belgium 143446
Brazil 143503
Canada 143455
Chile 143483
China 143465
Colombia 143501
Costa Rica 143495
Croatia 143494
Czech Republic 143489
Denmark 143458
Deutschland 143443
El Salvador 143506
Espana 143454
Finland 143447
France 143442
Greece 143448
Guatemala 143504
Hong Kong 143463
Hungary 143482
India 143467
Indonesia 143476
Ireland 143449
Israel 143491
Italia 143450
Korea 143466
Kuwait 143493
Lebanon 143497
Luxembourg 143451
Malaysia 143473
Mexico 143468
Nederland 143452
New Zealand 143461
Norway 143457
Osterreich 143445
Pakistan 143477
Panama 143485
Peru 143507
Phillipines 143474
Poland 143478
Portugal 143453
Qatar 143498
Romania 143487
Russia 143469
Saudi Arabia 143479
Schweitz/Suisse 143459
Singapore 143464
Slovakia 143496
Slovenia 143499
South Africa 143472
Sri Lanka 143486
Sweden 143456
Taiwan 143470
Thailand 143475
Turkey 143480
United Arab Emirates 143481
United Kingdom 143444
Venezuela 143502
Vietnam 143471
Japan 143462

Scraping Perl Script

#! /usr/bin/perl
# Autofetch reviews

# iPocket
# print "iPocket Reviews:\n";
# $currentSoftware = 285898097;
# getAllReviews();

# ToDo
print "To Do Reviews:\n";
$currentSoftware = 284222001;
getAllReviews();

# Light -- removed

# Moo
print "Moo Reviews\n";
$currentSoftware = 284222807;
getAllReviews();

# Ad Hoc Helper
print "Ad Hoc Helper Reviews\n";
$currentSoftware = 285691333;
getAllReviews();

sub getAllReviews()
{

$country="\nCOUNTRY: United States";
$store =  143441;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Argentina";
$store =  143505;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Australia";
$store =  143460;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Belgium";
$store =  143446;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Brazil";
$store =  143503;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Canada";
$store =  143455;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Chile";
$store =  143483;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: China";
$store =  143465;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Colombia";
$store =  143501;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Costa Rica";
$store =  143495;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Croatia";
$store =  143494;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Czech Republic";
$store =  143489;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Denmark";
$store =  143458;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Deutschland";
$store =  143443;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: El Salvador";
$store =  143506;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Espana";
$store =  143454;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Finland";
$store =  143447;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: France";
$store =  143442;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Greece";
$store =  143448;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Guatemala";
$store =  143504;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Hong Kong";
$store =  143463;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Hungary";
$store =  143482;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: India";
$store =  143467;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Indonesia";
$store =  143476;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Ireland";
$store =  143449;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Israel";
$store =  143491;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Italia";
$store =  143450;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Korea";
$store =  143466;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Kuwait";
$store =  143493;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Lebanon";
$store =  143497;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

$country="\nCOUNTRY: Luxembourg";
$store =  143451;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Malaysia";
$store =  143473;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Mexico";
$store =  143468;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Nederland";
$store =  143452;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: New Zealand";
$store =  143461;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Norway";
$store =  143457;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Osterreich";
$store =  143445;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Pakistan";
$store =  143477;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Panama";
$store =  143485;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Peru";
$store =  143507;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Phillipines";
$store =  143474;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Poland";
$store =  143478;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Portugal";
$store =  143453;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Qatar";
$store =  143498;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Romania";
$store =  143487;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Russia";
$store =  143469;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Saudi Arabia";
$store =  143479;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Schweitz/Suisse";
$store =  143459;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Singapore";
$store =  143464;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Slovakia";
$store =  143496;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Slovenia";
$store =  143499;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: South Africa";
$store =  143472;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Sri Lanka";
$store =  143486;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Sweden";
$store =  143456;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Taiwan";
$store =  143470;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Thailand";
$store =  143475;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Turkey";
$store =  143480;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: United Arab Emirates";
$store =  143481;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: United Kingdom";
$store =  143444;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Venezuela";
$store =  143502;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Vietnam";
$store =  143471;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();


$country="\nCOUNTRY: Japan";
$store =  143462;
print $country, "\n";
fetchReviews();

}

sub fetchReviews()
{
    my $doit = qq{curl -s -A "iTunes/4.2 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X 10.2" -H "X-Apple-Store-Front: $store-1" 'http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=$currentSoftware&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=2&type=Purple+Software' | gunzip | xmllint --format -};

   my $riz = `$doit`;
   my @rizray = split('\n', $riz);
   my @rizray = grep(/normalStyle/, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/GotoURL/, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/Sort by:/, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/by.*<b>/, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/">$/, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/Copyright/, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/> \/</, @rizray);
   my @rizray = grep(!/>..</, @rizray);

   foreach my $item (@rizray)
   {
      # print $item, ": ";
      $item =~ s/.*">//;
      $item =~ s/<.*//;
      print "* ", $item, "\n";
   }
}