Few days ago a friend of mine said, ‘So you know android, then tell me how to get information about the application when you have only apk?’
I thought for sometime and recollected a tool.
It is easy to get information about the application when you have the source code, information like minSdkVersion, tagetSdkVersion, permissions, configurations, xmltree, but what if someone gives you ‘apk’ and asks you to tell same information?.
The common way to solve this problem is to convert .apk file to .zip file then open the files. Cool right?
Not so cool, open AndroidManifest.xml file. It has data that you need but you can’t read it. It is something like -
There is a tool which can help you to do that -
aapt (Android Asset Packaging Tool)
First thing first, Where is it?
<path_to_android_sdk>/build-tools/<build_tool_version>/aapt
What is aapt?
It is a tool that can be used to list, add or remove files in an APK.
What are its powers?
aapt list - lists content of zip, apk.
aapt dump - dumps specific information from a file.
aapt package - packages android resources.
aapt remove - removes file from zip, apk.
aapt add - adds file to zip, apk.
aapt crunch - crunches png files.
Now you have some commands -
To get basic information of the apk
aapt dump badging weather.apk
Output -
package: name='io.github.archbloom.weather' versionCode='1' versionName='1.0' platformBuildVersionName='6.0-2438415'
sdkVersion:'21'
targetSdkVersion:'23'
uses-permission: name='android.permission.INTERNET'
application-label:'Weather'
application-label-ca:'Weather'
application-label-da:'Weather'
application-label-fa:'Weather'
application-label-ja:'Weather'
application-label-nb:'Weather'
application-label-de:'Weather'
application-label-af:'Weather'
application-label-bg:'Weather'
application-label-th:'Weather'
application-label-fi:'Weather'
application-label-hi:'Weather'
application-label-vi:'Weather'
application-label-sk:'Weather'
application-label-uk:'Weather'
application-label-el:'Weather'
application-label-nl:'Weather'
application-label-pl:'Weather'
application-label-sl:'Weather'
application-label-tl:'Weather'
application-label-am:'Weather'
application-label-in:'Weather'
application-label-ko:'Weather'
application-label-ro:'Weather'
application-label-ar:'Weather'
application-label-fr:'Weather'
application-label-hr:'Weather'
application-label-sr:'Weather'
application-label-tr:'Weather'
application-label-cs:'Weather'
application-label-es:'Weather'
application-label-it:'Weather'
application-label-lt:'Weather'
application-label-pt:'Weather'
application-label-hu:'Weather'
application-label-ru:'Weather'
application-label-zu:'Weather'
application-label-lv:'Weather'
application-label-sv:'Weather'
application-label-iw:'Weather'
application-label-sw:'Weather'
application-label-fr-CA:'Weather'
application-label-lo-LA:'Weather'
application-label-en-GB:'Weather'
application-label-bn-BD:'Weather'
application-label-et-EE:'Weather'
application-label-ka-GE:'Weather'
application-label-ky-KG:'Weather'
application-label-km-KH:'Weather'
application-label-zh-HK:'Weather'
application-label-si-LK:'Weather'
application-label-mk-MK:'Weather'
application-label-ur-PK:'Weather'
application-label-sq-AL:'Weather'
application-label-hy-AM:'Weather'
application-label-my-MM:'Weather'
application-label-zh-CN:'Weather'
application-label-pa-IN:'Weather'
application-label-ta-IN:'Weather'
application-label-te-IN:'Weather'
application-label-ml-IN:'Weather'
application-label-en-IN:'Weather'
application-label-kn-IN:'Weather'
application-label-mr-IN:'Weather'
application-label-gu-IN:'Weather'
application-label-mn-MN:'Weather'
application-label-ne-NP:'Weather'
application-label-pt-BR:'Weather'
application-label-gl-ES:'Weather'
application-label-eu-ES:'Weather'
application-label-is-IS:'Weather'
application-label-es-US:'Weather'
application-label-pt-PT:'Weather'
application-label-en-AU:'Weather'
application-label-zh-TW:'Weather'
application-label-ms-MY:'Weather'
application-label-az-AZ:'Weather'
application-label-kk-KZ:'Weather'
application-label-uz-UZ:'Weather'
application-icon-120:'res/mipmap-mdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-icon-160:'res/mipmap-mdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-icon-240:'res/mipmap-hdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-icon-320:'res/mipmap-xhdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-icon-480:'res/mipmap-xxhdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-icon-640:'res/mipmap-xxxhdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-icon-65534:'res/mipmap-mdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application: label='Weather' icon='res/mipmap-mdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png'
application-debuggable
launchable-activity: name='io.github.archbloom.weather.MainActivity' label='Weather' icon=''
feature-group: label=''
uses-feature: name='android.hardware.touchscreen'
uses-implied-feature: name='android.hardware.touchscreen' reason='default feature for all apps'
main
supports-screens: 'small' 'normal' 'large' 'xlarge'
supports-any-density: 'true'
locales: '--_--' 'ca' 'da' 'fa' 'ja' 'nb' 'de' 'af' 'bg' 'th' 'fi' 'hi' 'vi' 'sk' 'uk' 'el' 'nl' 'pl' 'sl' 'tl' 'am' 'in' 'ko' 'ro' 'ar' 'fr' 'hr' 'sr' 'tr' 'cs' 'es' 'it' 'lt' 'pt' 'hu' 'ru' 'zu' 'lv' 'sv' 'iw' 'sw' 'fr-CA' 'lo-LA' 'en-GB' 'bn-BD' 'et-EE' 'ka-GE' 'ky-KG' 'km-KH' 'zh-HK' 'si-LK' 'mk-MK' 'ur-PK' 'sq-AL' 'hy-AM' 'my-MM' 'zh-CN' 'pa-IN' 'ta-IN' 'te-IN' 'ml-IN' 'en-IN' 'kn-IN' 'mr-IN' 'gu-IN' 'mn-MN' 'ne-NP' 'pt-BR' 'gl-ES' 'eu-ES' 'is-IS' 'es-US' 'pt-PT' 'en-AU' 'zh-TW' 'ms-MY' 'az-AZ' 'kk-KZ' 'uz-UZ'
densities: '120' '160' '240' '320' '480' '640' '65534'
To get list of permissions in AndroidManifest
aapt dump permissions weather.apk
Output -
package: io.github.archbloom.weather
uses-permission: name='android.permission.INTERNET'
uses-permission: name='android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
uses-permission: name='android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
To get configuration files
aapt dump configurations weather.apk
Output -
anydpi-v21
v21
v23
ldpi-v4
mdpi-v4
ldrtl-mdpi-v17
hdpi-v4
ldrtl-hdpi-v17
xhdpi-v4
ldrtl-xhdpi-v17
xxhdpi-v4
ldrtl-xxhdpi-v17
xxxhdpi-v4
ldrtl-xxxhdpi-v17
sw600dp-v13
ca
da
fa
ja
nb
de
...
tr
cs
es
it
lt
pt
hu
ru
zu
lv
sv
iw
sw
fr-rCA
lo-rLA
en-rGB
bn-rBD
et-rEE
ka-rGE
ky-rKG
km-rKH
zh-rHK
si-rLK
mk-rMK
...
uz-rUZ
large-v4
xlarge-v4
w480dp-v13
w720dp-v13
h320dp-v13
port
land
w600dp-v13
w820dp-v13
h720dp-v13
v18
xlarge-land-v4
v11
v12
v14
v17
ldltr-v21
v22
ldrtl-v23
w360dp-v13
w500dp-v13
To get resources of the apk
aapt dump resources weather.apk
Output -
Package Groups (1)
Package Group 0 id=0x7f packageCount=1 name=io.github.archbloom.weather
Package 0 id=0x7f name=io.github.archbloom.weather
type 0 configCount=1 entryCount=272
spec resource 0x7f010000 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/drawerArrowStyle: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010001 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/height: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010002 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/isLightTheme: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010003 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/title: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010004 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/navigationMode: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010005 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/displayOptions: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010006 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/subtitle: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010007 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/titleTextStyle: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010008 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/subtitleTextStyle: flags=0x00000000
spec resource 0x7f010009 io.github.archbloom.weather:attr/icon: flags=0x00000000
resource 0x7f0c0084 io.github.archbloom.weather:id/line1: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c0085 io.github.archbloom.weather:id/time: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c0086 io.github.archbloom.weather:id/chronometer: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c0087 io.github.archbloom.weather:id/text2: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c0088 io.github.archbloom.weather:id/line3: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c0089 io.github.archbloom.weather:id/text: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c008a io.github.archbloom.weather:id/info: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c008b io.github.archbloom.weather:id/end_padder: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
resource 0x7f0c008c io.github.archbloom.weather:id/action_settings: t=0x12 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
type 12 configCount=1 entryCount=1
spec resource 0x7f0d0000 io.github.archbloom.weather:menu/menu_main: flags=0x00000000
config (default):
resource 0x7f0d0000 io.github.archbloom.weather:menu/menu_main: t=0x03 d=0x00000000 (s=0x0008 r=0x00)
There are some other commands you can try -
# List contents of zip-compatible archive.
aapt list -a -v weather.apk
# List compiled xmls in the given assets.
aapt dump xmltree weather.apk
# List strings of the given compiled xml assets.
aapt dump xmlstrings weather.apk
You should explore the other commands.
Reference Link : elinux.org/Android_aapt