ipatool is a command line tool that allows you to search for iOS apps on the App Store and download a copy of the app package, known as an ipa file.
- macOS 10.11 or later.
- Apple ID set up to use the App Store.
You can grab the latest version of ipatool from GitHub releases.
You can install ipatool using Homebrew.
$ brew tap majd/repo
$ brew install ipatool
To authenticate with the App Store, use the auth command.
OVERVIEW: Authenticate with the App Store.
USAGE: ipatool auth <subcommand>
OPTIONS:
--version Show the version.
-h, --help Show help information.
SUBCOMMANDS:
login Login to the App Store.
revoke Revoke your App Store credentials.
See 'ipatool help auth <subcommand>' for detailed help.
To search for apps on the App Store, use the search command.
OVERVIEW: Search for iOS apps available on the App Store.
USAGE: ipatool search <term> [--limit <limit>] [--country <country>] [--device-family <device-family>] [--log-level <log-level>]
ARGUMENTS:
<term> The term to search for.
OPTIONS:
-l, --limit <limit> The maximum amount of search results to retrieve.
(default: 5)
-c, --country <country> The two-letter (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) country code for
the iTunes Store. (default: US)
-d, --device-family <device-family>
The device family to limit the search query to.
(default: iPhone)
--log-level <log-level> The log level. (default: info)
--version Show the version.
-h, --help Show help information.
To obtain a license for an app, use the purchase command.
OVERVIEW: Obtain a license for the app from the App Store.
USAGE: ipatool purchase --bundle-identifier <bundle-identifier> [--country <country>] [--device-family <device-family>] [--log-level <log-level>]
OPTIONS:
-b, --bundle-identifier <bundle-identifier>
The bundle identifier of the target iOS app.
-c, --country <country> The two-letter (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) country code for
the iTunes Store. (default: US)
-d, --device-family <device-family>
The device family to limit the search query to.
(default: iPhone)
--log-level <log-level> The log level. (default: info)
--version Show the version.
-h, --help Show help information.
To download a copy of the ipa file, use the download command.
OVERVIEW: Download (encrypted) iOS app packages from the App Store.
USAGE: ipatool download --bundle-identifier <bundle-identifier> [--country <country>] [--device-family <device-family>] [--output <output>] [--log-level <log-level>] [--purchase]
OPTIONS:
-b, --bundle-identifier <bundle-identifier>
The bundle identifier of the target iOS app.
-c, --country <country> The two-letter (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) country code for
the iTunes Store. (default: US)
-d, --device-family <device-family>
The device family to limit the search query to.
(default: iPhone)
-o, --output <output> The destination path of the downloaded app package.
--log-level <log-level> The log level. (default: info)
--purchase Obtain a license for the app if needed.
--version Show the version.
-h, --help Show help information.
Note: You can specify the Apple ID email address and username as arguments when using the tool or by setting them as environment variables (IPATOOL_EMAIL and IPATOOL_PASSWORD). If you do not specify this information using either of those methods, the tool will prompt for user input in an interactive session. Similarly, you can supply the 2FA code interactively or using the environment variable IPATOOL_2FA_CODE.
IPATool is released under the MIT license.