Google Play Store contains valuable data — app results, ratings, install counts, category rank, and more. Scraping this data directly means dealing with anti-bot detection, CAPTCHAs, IP rotation, and constantly breaking selectors. The Scavio API handles all of that and returns clean, structured JSON from a single POST request.
This tutorial shows you how to scrape Google Play Store using Java and the Scavio API. By the end, you will have a working Java script that fetches real-time Google Play Store data and parses the results.
Prerequisites
- Java installed on your machine
- A Scavio API key (free tier includes 500 credits/month — no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
HttpClient is built into Java, so there is nothing to install.
# HttpClient is built into Java 11+Step 2: Make Your First Google Play Store Search
Send a POST request to the Scavio Google Play Store API endpoint with your query. The API returns structured JSON with app results, ratings, install counts, and more.
import java.net.http.*;
import java.net.URI;
var apiKey = "your_scavio_api_key";
var body = "{\"query\":\"" + query + "\"}";
var request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search"))
.header("x-api-key", apiKey)
.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
.POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(body))
.build();
var client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
var response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
System.out.println(response.body());Step 3: Example Response
The API returns structured JSON. Here is an example response for a Google Play Store search:
{
"search_metadata": { "status": "success" },
"organic_results": [
{
"position": 1,
"title": "Habitica: Gamify Your Tasks - Apps on Google Play",
"link": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.habitrpg.android.habitica",
"snippet": "4.3, 180K reviews · 1M+ downloads · Free · HabitRPG, Inc..."
}
]
}Every field is structured and typed — no HTML parsing, no CSS selectors, no regex extraction. Your Java code can access any field directly.
Step 4: Full Working Example
Here is a complete, runnable Java script that searches Google Play Store and prints the results:
import java.net.http.*;
import java.net.URI;
/**
* Scrape Google Play Store search results using Scavio API.
* Requires Java 11+.
*/
public class GooglePlayStoreSearch {
private static final String API_URL = "https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search";
private static final String API_KEY = System.getenv("SCAVIO_API_KEY");
public static String search(String query) throws Exception {
var body = "{\"query\":\"" + query + "\"}";
var request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create(API_URL))
.header("x-api-key", API_KEY)
.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
.POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(body))
.build();
var response = HttpClient.newHttpClient()
.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
if (response.statusCode() != 200) {
throw new RuntimeException("Scavio API error: " + response.statusCode());
}
return response.body();
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
System.out.println(search("site:play.google.com habit tracker"));
}
}Why Use Scavio Instead of Scraping Google Play Store Directly?
- No proxy management. Direct scraping requires rotating proxies to avoid IP bans. Scavio handles all of this server-side.
- No CAPTCHA solving. Google Play Store aggressively blocks automated requests. Scavio returns clean data every time.
- Structured JSON output. No HTML parsing or CSS selector maintenance. Get typed, consistent data from every request.
- Multi-platform in one API. Search Google, Amazon, YouTube, and Walmart from the same API key with the same authentication pattern.
- Free tier included. 500 credits/month with no credit card required. Each search costs 1 credit.