Android Market API (PHP)

Un-official PHP client for the (legacy) Android Market / Google Play Store — first released in 2012 and still used for archival research, market-data collection, and automation pipelines.

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Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Connection Settings & Troubleshooting
3. Examples
4. How to Cite
5. Issues & Support
6. Credits
7. License

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Overview

This library exposes most of the original Android Market RPCs (login, app details, search, downloads) to PHP. Google has never released an official Play Store API, so this code relies on reverse-engineered protobuf calls that still work for many use cases.

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Connection Settings & Troubleshooting

Configure examples/local.php with:

Setting	Notes
Google Account (USERNAME, PASSWORD)	Use an App Password from a Google account with 2-step verification to reduce CAPTCHA blocks.
Android Device ID	Retrieve via the free app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evozi.deviceid.
Rate-Limiting	The Play backend will 403/400 if you spam requests. Insert sleep() between calls.
CAPTCHA Unlock	Log in to the same account in a browser and visit https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha.

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Examples

See code for examples

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How to Cite

If this software was helpful in your research, please cite version v1:

@software{Koc_2025_android_market_api_php,
  author       = {Vincent Koc},
  title        = {{Android Market API (PHP)}},
  version      = {v1},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.14769247},
  url          = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14769247}
}