Featured content

Unlike the other endpoints, this one returns data about how the store looks, so it feels appropriate to give an in-depth explanation of the response format and the input parameters.

What data does AppTweak fetch for this endpoint?

AppTweak performs a daily search on the store looking for the featured content of the store. Depending on the store this can mean different things since Google and Apple chose to market the apps differently.

PlayStore data

Games & Apps

AppTweak collects data for the following displayed menus in color. When the menus is greyed out, it means that AppTweak doesn't fetch the data.

Featurings

On Google Play, we identified the following featurings for the menus for which AppTweak fetches data.

AppStore Data

Menu's

AppTweak collects data for the following displayed sections in color. When the section is greyed out, it means that AppTweak doesn't fetch the data.

Featurings

Based on the menu you're in you might see different types of featurings.

On the "Today" tab, AppTweak fetches the first 6 app cards from iOS 11. Since AppTweak fetches data from iOS 11 for the featured content you might not see some stories such as "Now available" or "Now Happening".

On the "Apps" tab, AppTweak fetches the whole store page on iOS 11. However, there are some featuring that AppTweak doesn't fetch such as "Popular Apps".

On the "Games" tab, AppTweak fetches the whole store page on iOS 11. We didn't identify yet any missing sections compared to the latest version of iOS.

Input values

Response format explanation

Since both stores are visually different, the response format varies greatly based on this. You will therefore have to parse the response differently if the featured content happens on the App Store or Google Play.

In the table below you can find the different fields that are present in the responses for iPhone & Android devices.

PlayStore Featured Content

AppTweak logically divides the screen into what are called "Groups". Each group consists of a horizontally scrollable set of apps that are related under the same title. The following screenshot marks two different examples of groups in the PlayStore:

The featured content in the PlayStore app, at the time of writing, can be easily divided into two subcategories; "App Groups" (marked with a one) and "In-Store Links" (marked with a two). From this screen, and with these divisions, AppTweak scraps the apps and collects the data. Unfortunately, for "In-Store Links" Apptweak does not fetch the list of applications.

A response for Featured Content of the PlayStore app can be shown in the following code snippet:

"featured_content": [
  {
		"title": "Featured apps", 
		"subtitle": "Best for your watch",
    "apps": [...],
    "position": 1,
		"date": "2022-09-14",
		"category": "Android Wear"
  }
]

As you can see, the endpoint returns all the pertinent information of the featured content found, including the category where the app has been found and the date. Under the key android_featured_content, you will find the different app groups that contain the title of the featuring, the subtitle, the list of featured app(s), with the position of app group on the screen.

AppStore Featured Content

Similar to the PlayStore, AppTweak also divides the AppStore into different groups; "Stories" (marked with a 1) and "Apps Group" (marked with a 2). Those numbers (1 & 2) also indicate the vertical position of the featured content on the page. The following can be appreciated in the next two screenshots.

The response format for the featured content of the app "LinkedIn: Job Search & News" with app ID 288429040 on the 19th of August on the Belgian App Store is the following:

"featured_content": [
      {
        "apps": "288429040",
        "artworks": ["..."],
        "date": "2022-08-19",
        "header": "FEATURED",
        "position": 1, // position on the story group on the screen
        "position_in_story_group": 6, // position of the story inside the story group
        "subtitle": "Network and grow your career",
        "title": "LinkedIn: Network & Job Finder"
      },
      {
        "apps": ["835599320",
          ...,
          "288429040", // the position of the app_id in the app list is the same the position on the store
					...
        ],
        "artworks": "",
        "date": "2022-08-19",
        "header": "",
        "position": 2, // position on the story group on the screen
        "position_in_story_group": "", // Does not apply since it is not a story
        "subtitle": "Network and grow your career",
        "title": "App Essentials"
        "title": "",
    ]

As you can see the response contains all the relevant details from the store. Featured content can either be a single app or an app listing. In this case, you can notice which one it is by taking a look at the apps field response. If the field contains more than one app, it is an app listing.

The position of an app featuring is present at different levels:

• Its vertical position on the screen is indicated by the key position. If the position is 1 it means that the app is featured in the hero banners.
• Its horizontal position inside a story group on a screen is indicated by position_in_story_group. This is only applicable for story groups and may be empty otherwise.
• Its position inside an app group is indicated by app_id position inside the apps list. The position of the app inside the app listing is not explicitly mentioned. However, the position of the app is the same as its position in the list of app ids.

Here's an example of how the position of an app is defined on our API.

FAQ

📘

Are the featurings the same for everyone?

The short answer is no. It depends on a lot of different factors such as the iOS/GP version the user is on and the user preferences. Moreover, you'll get different featured apps for the same user if he comes multiple times on the same day.

📘

Which Google Play version or iOS version does AppTweak fetch data for?

AppTweak fetches on the version 28.X of the Google Play Store. If you see some differences, it's probably because AppTweak didn't parse that data yet.

AppTweak currently fetches data from iOS 11 and is transitioning towards iOS 14. This means that you might see some differences with AppTweaks' data and what you see on your phone. Unfortunately, we don't have a timeline yet for a transition toward iOS 15. Features that are exclusive to this version such as In-App Events won't be available.

📘

Featuring type missing?

Since the featured content of the stores evolves very rapidly it can happen that AppTweak doesn't catch those. If you encounter some, please reach out to us.

📘

Unknown groups?

While AppTweak always strives to be at the top of every change, in an environment as dynamic as the Play Store and the AppStore it's not impossible that some groups can be left unparsed. In that case, AppTweak still fetches the data and still displays it in the endpoint, however, the formats can vary greatly from those demonstrated in this documentation