To start decoding or get source code of an application,first you have to download the target application.

Then open the terminal by pressing “ctrl+alt+t” keys simultaneously.

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Then type

sudo apt-get install apktool  or  sudo apt install apktool

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press enter.

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It takes few seconds to install,after completion type apktool in terminal and press enter.

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then if it shows like fig au.5 your installation is completed.

then change the directory where the target application ie apk file is present.

To change directory use cd directory-path

for example if app is in Downloads folder use cd Downloads/ if it is in a sub-folder of downloads folder use cd Downloads/sub-folder_name . Then type ls to check the items present in the specified directory.

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in above case ie in fig au.6 target file is in apk folder of downloads directory.(here Downloads is main folder and targetapk is the sub-folder.

Then type ls to view the files present in them.

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In my case my target apk is “HelloWorld.apk” it varies from your target apk.

Lets go ahead, now type the command to decompile the android application

apktool d "yourapkname.apk" replace “yourapkname.apk” with your apk filename.apk in my case i replace it as apktool d HelloWorld.apk .

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Then the tool decompiles and creates a folder named as like the target apk filename without apk extension.As shown in fig au.10

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Now you can see the decompiled files using file explorer or nautilus.It has  the contents shown in fig au.11

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The files in the decompiled folder were xml files and image files(like app-icon etc..)

You can modify them by using any text editor.

NOTE: apktool decompiles only xml files,to edit java files we have to use “dex2jar and jd-gui”.We will post a tutorial leading them as soon as possible.

Fine,after editing how can i rebuild them,here it is

just go to terminal and type apktool b filename to create a modified apk file.

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The modified apk file will be present in a newly created dist folder.And an important thing that matters is before going to use the modified apk you have to sign the apk.

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Signing the apk could be done through “keytooljarsigner”.

 

If you have any doubts comment us we will provide you solutions.

 

 

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