apktool

Reverse engineer Android APK files

TLDR

Decode (decompile) an APK

$ apktool d [app.apk]

Decode to specific directory

$ apktool d [app.apk] -o [output_dir]

Build (recompile) an APK

$ apktool b [decoded_dir]

Build with output name

$ apktool b [decoded_dir] -o [output.apk]

Decode without resources

$ apktool d [app.apk] -r

Decode without sources

$ apktool d [app.apk] -s

apktool is a reverse engineering tool for Android APK files. It decodes resources to nearly original form, allowing inspection and modification of manifests, layouts, and other XML resources. It also disassembles Dalvik bytecode to smali.After modifications, apktool can rebuild the APK, which then needs to be signed before installation.

PARAMETERS

d, decode

Decode APK to directory

b, build

Build APK from directory

-o path, --output path

Output file/directory

-r, --no-res

Don't decode resources

-s, --no-src

Don't decode sources (smali)

-f, --force

Force overwrite existing files

--frame-path dir

Framework files directory

-p dir, --frame-path dir

Store/load framework files

--use-aapt2

Use aapt2 instead of aapt

CONFIGURATION

~/.local/share/apktool/framework/

Directory for stored framework files used during decoding and rebuilding.

INSTALL

sudo apt install apktool

brew install apktool

nix profile install nixpkgs#apktool

CAVEATS

Rebuilt APKs must be signed before installation. Some protection schemes may prevent successful decoding. Resource decoding may fail for heavily modified framework.

HISTORY

apktool was created by Brut.all (Connor Tumbleson maintains the fork) and first released around 2010. It became the standard tool for Android APK reverse engineering.