What are the contents of an Android APK file

Question

• what are the components of the APK file ?
• Is it just bunch of executable\'s ?
• what are the names of the components ?

Answer 1

You can extract your apk to see whats inside it ,by just renaming it to "apkname.zip".

After renaming you can extract it like normal zip files.I guess this is what you wana see.

Answer 2

[APK] 
|
|_ _ _ _ DALVIK EXECUTABLE < This is a code that runs the android app >
|
|_ _ _ _ RESOURCES < Images, video files, Audio files, xml files, Language packs >
|
|_ _ _ _ NATIVE LIBRARIES < some native code that include c & c++ libraires >

Answer 3

An apk file contains all of that program's code (such as .dex files), resources, assets, certificates, and manifest file.

Answer 4

An APK file is an archive that usually contains the following folders:

• META-INF directory:

  • MANIFEST.MF: the Manifest file
  • CERT.RSA: The certificate of the application.

  • CERT.SF: The list of resources and SHA-1 digest of the corresponding lines in the MANIFEST.MF file; for example:

     Signature-Version: 1.0 
     Created-By: 1.0 (Android)  SHA1-Digest-Manifest:
     wxqnEAI0UA5nO5QJ8CGMwjkGGWE=  
     ...  
     Name: res/layout/exchange_component_back_bottom.xml  SHA1-Digest:
     eACjMjESj7Zkf0cBFTZ0nqWrt7w=  
     ...  
     Name: res/drawable-hdpi/icon.png 
     SHA1-Digest: DGEqylP8W0n0iV/ZzBx3MW0WGCA=
    

• lib: the directory containing the compiled code that is specific to a software layer of a processor, the folder is split into more folders within it:

  • armeabi: compiled code for all ARM based processors only
  • armeabi-v7a: compiled code for all ARMv7 and above based processors only
  • x86: compiled code for x86 processors only
  • mips: compiled code for MIPS processors only

• res: the directory containing resources not compiled into resources.arsc .

• assets: a directory containing applications assets, which can be retrieved by AssetManager.

• AndroidManifest.xml: An additional Android manifest file, describing the name, version, access rights, referenced library files for the application. This file may be in Android binary XML that can be converted into human-readable plaintext XML with tools such as AXMLPrinter2, apktool, or Androguard.

• classes.dex: The classes compiled in the dex file format understandable by the Dalvik virtual machine

  resources.arsc : a file containing pre-compiled resources, such as binary XML for example.

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