How to Download IPA Files from the App Store

If you need to download IPA files directly from the Apple App Store for testing or backup purposes, ipatool is a simple and powerful command-line tool that makes the process straightforward.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover the easiest way: logging in and downloading IPA files with just a few commands.

What You’ll Need

Before starting, make sure you have:

• macOS, Linux, or Windows with WSL
• ipatool installed
• An Apple ID

Step 1: Install ipatool

On macOS, you can install ipatool using Homebrew:

brew install ipatool

For other platforms, download the binaries from the official ipatool GitHub Releases.

Step 2: Log in to Your Apple ID

To access App Store content, log in using your Apple ID with the following command:

ipatool auth login --email [email protected]

You will then be prompted to:

1. Enter your Apple ID password.
2. If you have Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) enabled, provide the auth code Apple sends you. You can also pass it directly as a flag:

ipatool auth login --email [email protected] --auth-code 123456

Successful Login Output

If login is successful, you’ll see something like:

4:48PM INF enter password:
4:48PM INF email=***@gmail.com name="Your Name" success=true

You can check your login status anytime with:

ipatool auth info

Step 3: Download the IPA File

Once logged in, you can download an IPA file by either its bundle ID or App Store ID.

Download by Bundle ID

ipatool download --bundle-id com.example.app

Download by App Store ID

ipatool download --app-id 123456789

Download with Purchase Option and Custom Output Name

If you want to force purchase/download (when the app is free or associated with your account) and save the IPA with a custom name, use:

ipatool download --purchase --bundle-identifier com.example.app --output app_name.ipa

This will download the IPA and save it as app_name.ipa in your current directory.

Step 4: Log Out (Optional)

For security, you can log out after downloading:

ipatool auth revoke

Full Example Workflow

Here’s the entire process in one go:

brew install ipatool
ipatool auth login --email [email protected] --auth-code 123456
ipatool download --purchase --bundle-identifier com.example.app --output app_name.ipa
ipatool auth revoke

Summary

With ipatool, you can easily download IPA files from the App Store using just a few commands.
Simply install the tool, log in with your Apple ID, and run the download command with the app’s bundle ID or App Store ID.
Optionally, you can use the --purchase flag and specify an output name for more control over the downloaded file.