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How to parse the AndroidManifest.xml file inside an .apk package
Introduction
Android application package also referred as .apk file is generally installed on a mobile device which helps to run the android application on a mobile device. This apk file is a zip file which contains the application code, resources and a manifest file. AndroidManifest.xml file is considered as one of the most important files of any android application package (apk). It contains essential metadata of any application such as application’s name, version, permissions which are provided in the application to be requested for the user to use the application and many more. In this article we will take a look at How to parse AndroidManifest.xml file inside a .apk package.
Step by Step guide
For extracting AndroidManifest.xml file from an apk file. Firstly we have to install an android apk tool on our machine which we will be using to decode the apk file and from that we can get the various files of our application. Inside this we will also get our AndroidManifest.xml file.
For extracting AndroidManifest.xml file from an apk file. Firstly we have to install an android apk tool on our machine which we will be using to decode the apk file and from that we can get the various files of our application. Inside this we will also get our AndroidManifest.xml file.
brew install apktool
After triggering the above command the apk tool will be installed on your machine.
Now we will take a look at How to parse AndroidManifest.xml file from our android application package (apk) file.
For that navigate to the directory in which you have added in the apk file in your command line terminal.
For example if your apk file is at Desktop navigate to the Desktop directory from your command line terminal using cd command.
Once you have navigated to that directory then simply run below command to get all the files of an android application package.
apktool d app-debug.apk && cat app-debug/AndroidManifest.xml
In the above command the app-debug.apk is the name of your apk file and app-debug is the directory which will be created on running this command and inside this directory the AndroidManifest.xml file will be there.
Once you have executed this command a new directory will be generated named as app-debug in the same directory where you have your apk file present.
Now navigate to this directory you will get to see your AndroidMaifest.xml file for that application. You will also get to see the contents of your AndroidManifest.xml file printed inside your terminal which will something similar be as given below.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:compileSdkVersion="33" android:compileSdkVersionCodename="13"
package="com.example.java_test_application" platformBuildVersionCode="33"
platformBuildVersionName="13">
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
<uses-feature android:glEsVersion="0x00020000" android:required="true"/>
<permission android:name="com.example.java_test_application.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION" android:protectionLevel="signature"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.example.java_test_application.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION"/>
<application android:allowBackup="true"
android:appComponentFactory="androidx.core.app.CoreComponentFactory"
android:dataExtractionRules="@xml/data_extraction_rules"
android:debuggable="true" android:fullBackupContent="@xml/backup_rules"
android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:label="@string/app_name"
android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round" android:supportsRtl="true"
android:theme="@style/Theme.JavaTestApplication"
android:usesCleartextTraffic="true">
<activity android:exported="true" android:name="com.example.java_test_application.MainActivity">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
</intent-filter>
<meta-data android:name="android.app.lib_name" android:value=""/>
</activity>
<provider android:authorities="com.example.java_test_application.androidx-startup" android:exported="false" android:name="androidx.startup.InitializationProvider">
<meta-data android:name="androidx.emoji2.text.EmojiCompatInitializer" android:value="androidx.startup"/>
<meta-data android:name="androidx.lifecycle.ProcessLifecycleInitializer" android:value="androidx.startup"/>
</provider>
</application>
</manifest>
In this way we can parse the AndroidManifest.xml file of any android application package using apk tools.
Conclusion
In this article we have taken a look at How to parse the AndroidManifest.xml file from an android application package. We have also taken a look on How to use android apk tool to parse important data of an application from an apk file.
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