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Possible solution to adding iOS games and achievements

KGBc00L

Member
I am looking into how to add iOS games and stats (incl. achievements.).
The only way I have found yet, is to log in on your Apple ID account, and ask Apple to send you all the info from Game Center by way of the download function they are bound to have as per the GDPR regulation among others. After doing this, I got an email from Apple stating that they will send me all my Game Center info, and that this process can take as long as 7 days, so I have no idea what the final output looks like yet.

I was thinking of the possibility to parse the output from Apple, and bulk upload everything to Exophase (if a future Exophase update will permit it.)
This way, we can refresh all the iOS stats on a weekly basis.

Not sure if anyone has already thought of this, and done some testing on the output from Apple. Any input in this regard is appreciated.
 

CaptainScarLeg

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Game Info Editor
I think if Apple ever offered a download feature users could access themselves at any time without bothering anyone this might be worth looking into, but having to email them and wait a week each time you want to update your stats on here seems... unreasonable, to put it mildly. Imagine if they ended up having hundreds or thousands of these requests on a weekly basis.

It would certainly be interesting to see what that data looks like though.
 

KGBc00L

Member
I think if Apple ever offered a download feature users could access themselves at any time without bothering anyone this might be worth looking into, but having to email them and wait a week each time you want to update your stats on here seems... unreasonable, to put it mildly. Imagine if they ended up having hundreds or thousands of these requests on a weekly basis.

It would certainly be interesting to see what that data looks like though.
Thanks for replying, and I appreciate your concerns. But let me alleviete them. For Apple, this is done automatically by clicking stuff on a webpage. No emailing is needed. So you are not bothering anyone. (Except maybe the first time you ask, when they do validation on your identity, but I'd be surprised if this isn't automated as well). For Nintendo, I have just begun exploring by e-mailing their legal department. But to be clear, under GDPR you are entitled to:
  • The right to request access to personal data stored by the company
  • The right to data portability
So, I guess both Apple and Nintendo will in due time be doing themselves a favor by opening up an API for the access needed for efficient tracking.
 

CaptainScarLeg

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Game Info Editor
Thanks for replying, and I appreciate your concerns. But let me alleviete them. For Apple, this is done automatically by clicking stuff on a webpage. No emailing is needed. So you are not bothering anyone. (Except maybe the first time you ask, when they do validation on your identity, but I'd be surprised if this isn't automated as well). For Nintendo, I have just begun exploring by e-mailing their legal department. But to be clear, under GDPR you are entitled to:
  • The right to request access to personal data stored by the company
  • The right to data portability
So, I guess both Apple and Nintendo will in due time be doing themselves a favor by opening up an API for the access needed for efficient tracking.
Well, if it is indeed an automated process it might be worth looking into, though the fact that it apparently takes up to 7 days to get the data suggests it may not be as automated (on their end, at least) as you're assuming it is. There could still be someone handling the requests manually. If that's the case then I stand by my assessment that it would be quite unreasonable to request the data on a weekly basis, whether you're legally entitled to it or not. That's just my opinion, though.

But yes, in such a case it would be in Apple and Nintendo's best interests to offer the data through an API. I'd say there's a reasonable chance of this happening on Apple's side at some point, but Nintendo has never had a great grasp of, well, the internet in general really. But we'll see, I guess.
 

KGBc00L

Member
Update: I got the data from Apple after 58 hours. Since I asked on Saturday, I will try asking again on a working-day, to see if the delivery time is the same. In return from Apple I got a json-file of just 6K (which covered 36 games with achievement info). The file was properly marked with a game_name block and achievements block. The achievement block includes timestamp called last_update_utc for each achievement, and percentage_complete and also achievement_title. (You also get leaderboard info which I guess is not that important for tracking services.) The game block also has a timestamp called last_played_utc.
At the end you get an authentication block called auth_data and a friends block called friends that included the gamer tags of friends in Game Center. I will check on the next delivery if anything in the authentication block stays persistent and useful for anything, but I doubt it. To me, it seems possible to upload the whole thing without any parsing at all. You can get a copy of your own achievements data by logging into https://privacy.apple.com/ and click on the link Request a copy of your data and then tick off the box next to Game Center Activity.
 
Last edited:

x3sphere

Administrator
Staff member
Enforcer Team
Game Info Editor
Update: I got the data from Apple after 58 hours. Since I asked on Saturday, I will try asking again on a working-day, to see if the delivery time is the same. In return from Apple I got a json-file of just 6K (which covered 36 games with achievement info). The file was properly marked with a game_name block and achievements block. The achievement block includes timestamp called last_update_utc for each achievement, and percentage_complete and also achievement_title. (You also get leaderboard info which I guess is not that important for tracking services.) The game block also has a timestamp called last_played_utc.
At the end you get an authentication block called auth_data and a friends block called friends that included the gamer tags of friends in Game Center. I will check on the next delivery if anything in the authentication block stays persistent and useful for anything, but I doubt it. To me, it seems possible to upload the whole thing without any parsing at all. You can get a copy of your own achievements data by logging into https://privacy.apple.com/ and click on the link Request a copy of your data and then tick off the box next to Game Center Activity.
If you want to send me the json file in PM I'll take a look and see if we can use it (feel free to remove the auth data, doesn't sound like I'd need that). If we can start building a database of iOS games and achievements from users uploading this file it sounds like it would be worth adding support.
 

KGBc00L

Member
If you want to send me the json file in PM I'll take a look and see if we can use it (feel free to remove the auth data, doesn't sound like I'd need that). If we can start building a database of iOS games and achievements from users uploading this file it sounds like it would be worth adding support.
Great, I've sent you the file. 👍
 

KGBc00L

Member
For comparison I can let you know it took 234 hours to get a response from Nintendo legal, although they did apologize for the delayed response. They currently only have mail-in as a method for data transfer.
 

NoahG59

Member
If it can help with building the database/adding support I can provide my data as well. Too bad there’s not any official API yet…
 

x3sphere

Administrator
Staff member
Enforcer Team
Game Info Editor
Sorry to bump this thread so late, but how has this been coming along?
Still in consideration but as I mentioned in another thread the export Apple provides isn't that useful for building a database as it doesn't have any unique identifiers for the games or achievements.

Ideally there would be an unique ID on each item, that we can check against when uploading exports so no dupes are added. But without that, we can only go by the game title / achievement name which may change. So duplicates might get added over time and this would take a lot of manual effort to clean up. Given the large amount of games on iOS I'm not sure it's really worth doing this way.
 

TheAndromedaCat

New Member
Still in consideration but as I mentioned in another thread the export Apple provides isn't that useful for building a database as it doesn't have any unique identifiers for the games or achievements.

Ideally there would be an unique ID on each item, that we can check against when uploading exports so no dupes are added. But without that, we can only go by the game title / achievement name which may change. So duplicates might get added over time and this would take a lot of manual effort to clean up. Given the large amount of games on iOS I'm not sure it's really worth doing this way.
Ah, gotcha
 
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