Help with APK Tool

[jgordon00]

Wondering if anyone could provide me with some guidance on using APK Tool? I've successfully used it to decompile an app that I want to make some subtle graphic changes to. The main problem I have is how to recompile it so that it is signed and allowed to be installed on Android. I can't seem to find any clear instructions on recompiling.

Can anyone either help me with some clear directions on this or point me to a site that goes over this a bit deeper? I did a search already but couldn't find anything particularly helpful.

 

[Shaddow313]

If I Understand your question right you need alittle help with APK-manager... if thats the case this is how I use it..

You will need some type of imaging software like The Gimp or Photoshop it edit the images.

After you Decomplie the .apk go into Projects/"name of .apk"/res
in this directory you will find the .png to edit.

Open the image in imaging software of your choice and mod it while keeping the same dimensions. Overwrite the original .png file

When your done with all your modification go ahead and start the script.

Compile it by typing 11, following the onscreen instructions. Then type 12 to sign the .apk, Once thats done copy the .apk to your platform-tools directory renaming to the oringnal name and use adb shell to replace the app.

 

[CdTDroiD]

Use THIS one its much better "AutoAPKtool" all self explanatory

 

[jgordon00]

Use THIS one its much better "AutoAPKtool" all self explanatory

@CdTDroiD, thanks very much for this link. A few more questions I am hoping you can help me with since I am new to this:

1) Do I need to use a "framework-res.apk" file if I am just modifying a standard app from the market? I am not clear on when and why this file is necessary. I see this as the first command available in the tool so I want to make sure I understand what's going on with this.

2) Do I need to recompile the APK after my modifications BEFORE I "build a usebale APK" or can I just skip the recompile? I wasn't sure...

3) Is there anything else I need to do once I've built the useable APK so that the app can be installed on my device? I assume this program takes care of all the digital signing, etc?

Thanks for the help!

 

[antwonjenkins]

I too am stuck trying to recompile an apk using AutoAPKtool. I have modified everything I need and when I try option 7 to recompile the folder to an apk i get:


[*] C:\Android\AutoAPKTool2.0.3\_INPUT_APK\GoLockerRedFourkey
recompiling C:\Android\AutoAPKTool2.0.3\_INPUT_APK\GoLockerRedFourkey...
I: Smaling...
I: Building resources...
(skipping index file 'C:\Android\AutoAPKTool2.0.3\_INPUT_APK\GoLockerRedFourkey\res\drawable-hdpi\Thumbs.db')
I: Building apk file...
(skipping index file 'C:\Android\AutoAPKTool2.0.3\_INPUT_APK\GoLockerRedFourkey\assets\Thumbs.db')
The system cannot find the drive specified.

I don't know exactly what it's looking for. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[antwonjenkins]

okay here's what I did. I kinda figured out APK Manager which is very similar to the Auto APK tool.

take the apk you want to work on and put it in the "place-apk-here-for-modding" folder
open APK Manager
press 22 to select what file to work on and you should see the apk that you placed into the folder
select that option and you should see when the menu screen reshows your selected apk in the top right hand corner.
from there select to decompile apk (option 9 I believe)
make all your edit to the files in the "project" folder that you want/need.
then when finished make sure that same apk you selected to decompile is still selected and hit 11 to just compile and make your new apk
with that option you still have to sign your new apk before you can submit it into the market. to do that easily I recommend an app call Marketizer. A quick google search should get you it pretty easily and it is a pretty self explanatory app. Let me know if you have any issues with it and I'll be glad to help you out.
if you would like to quickly test an app out on your phone I would select option 14 when recompiling the app in App Manager because it will sign it with a default testkey.
When you officially sign your app with your own signature you will have to uninstall the one on your phone that was signed with the testkey before the market ready personally signed app can be installed. (you can't install the same app with different key signatures)

I hope this helps. I hope it isn't super confusing and this is all stuff I managed to work my way through mostly by myself since like you said, it's pretty hard to find a guide on those apps.