Database Develop

Help with editing apk files on MAC osX!

As the title says can someone show me how to do this strictly on a mac!
I have failed miserably at it!
All the tools are for windows..
I have the sdk for mac all set up and I can push an pull files!
but everything I edit on the mac and push to the phone crashes the phone with force closes and stuff...
-kitt050383

I came across this in a google search for the same thing. Can someone post a how-to step by step for modding .apk files with adb commands to push to the phone? Thanks in Advance.

Me as well please, been searching for a good 30 minutes now and cant find any tools to do this on a MAC, especially to edit the .9.png's

I just pull the apk and open it with BetterZip. APKs are pretty much like zip files. Then after I'm done, I sign it and push it back to the phone.

ajones7279 said:
I just pull the apk and open it with BetterZip. APKs are pretty much like zip files. Then after I'm done, I sign it and push it back to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, i change the extension to .zip double click and it unzips it. Open the folder, edit the files... and then i just switch the extension back to .apk?
I dont get what you are saying.

If you're using the default archiver, you may have to change it to .zip. Since I use betterzip, I just associated the .apk extension with BetterZip so it automatically opens it like an archive. Now, extract the contents of the apk, make whatever changes you please, put the contents back into the archive, sign the apk, then push it back to the phone. I'm typing this from my Hero so I'll try to make a more detailed post when I get off.

ajones7279 said:
If you're using the default archiver, you may have to change it to .zip. Since I use betterzip, I just associated the .apk extension with BetterZip so it automatically opens it like an archive. Now, extract the contents of the apk, make whatever changes you please, put the contents back into the archive, sign the apk, then push it back to the phone. I'm typing this from my Hero so I'll try to make a more detailed post when I get off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip! I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

Didn't know Betterzip was out there. I'll give it a try later tonight as well.

almost there...
ok i can transform an apk to a zip and unzip for editing, but how do i change it back? i just did a bunch of editing work, and now i am stuck. please help me....

So pretty much we all want to know the same thing...
Once we get the apk open... and we change files around how do we get it back to an apk file.
anyone gonna help?

ipeench said:
So pretty much we all want to know the same thing...
Once we get the apk open... and we change files around how do we get it back to an apk file.
anyone gonna help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
someone did.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5849463&postcount=6

Better Zip works great for this. Now, if there was a way to do zero compression like the APK Manager. Without that, the sounds for lock/unlock won't work.

Me too have the same problem. I think installing windows on your mac will work fine with all .exe tools. if you don't wanna do anything o your osx then you can run a virtualbox and run windows without affecting os x.

NO WAY
ajones7279 said:
I just pull the apk and open it with BetterZip. APKs are pretty much like zip files. Then after I'm done, I sign it and push it back to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I have tried to extract the APK with BetterZip.
I can extract files. But, XML file are like unable to open.
The image files are quite OK.
My purpose is to check out Manifest File and other XML Files.
So, if you can actually do those things after extracting with BetterZip, do let me know.
Thanks in advance.

The most useful way is install Windows via Bootcamp or Virtual Machine...

While I don't have a Mac, I should be able to help. First, rename the extension from .apk to .zip so it can be viewed and extracted from whatever archive manager you use. Doing this won't decompile the apk but it will at least let you modify the images. If you want to modify the xml's in the apk file. You can use Apktool which will decompile and recompile apk's, and sign the apk if it's a non-system app. You will also need to have JDK installed to do this.
JDK: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
Apktool: https://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/downloads/list

Help. Turn Framework Folders into APK Files.

I'd hate to be that guy who starts a whole thread for something...but I've looked everywhere and can't find the answer.
I'm working on my first theme, and I unzipped the framework recourse apk files, made the changes to the files inside, and now I want to turn them back into apk format so I can make everything into a flashable update.
I can't figure out how to turn these framework recourse folders into framework recourse apk files! Can anyone help me!? Thanks! If all goes well, I'll have a new theme out for you guys by tonight.
Thanks in advance!

alexthearmo said:
I'd hate to be that guy who starts a whole thread for something...but I've looked everywhere and can't find the answer.
I'm working on my first theme, and I unzipped the framework recourse apk files, made the changes to the files inside, and now I want to turn them back into apk format so I can make everything into a flashable update.
I can't figure out how to turn these framework recourse folders into framework recourse apk files! Can anyone help me!? Thanks! If all goes well, I'll have a new theme out for you guys by tonight.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.4shared.com/file/1LIk07D5/Avabox.html
download for windows. it has auto sign. as for changing back to apk just change extension back to .apk

so...do i use that program to zip up the file, then just change the extension?

........................

alexthearmo said:
so...do i use that program to zip up the file, then just change the extension?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Zip up file, change .zip to .apk.

What? You dont need to resign .apk's. In fact, you're making too much work for yourself. Im sure you extracted the .apk to a folder. All you need to do is reopen that .apk with 7zip. Drag and drop your changes into the .apk and you're done. No need to resign or anything.

VinceOB said:
What? You dont need to resign .apk's. In fact, you're making too much work for yourself. Im sure you extracted the .apk to a folder. All you need to do is reopen that .apk with 7zip. Drag and drop your changes into the .apk and you're done. No need to resign or anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help guys. I ran into some trouble with all this, and even realized that I mistakenly used some of the wrong files (from a theme that I actually didn't want to use)...so I'm gonna have to spend more time working on this. Hopefully I can get it finished and uploaded tomorrow. But thank you for your help. Right now I got homework to do. bleh.

Thanks for the post. I've been looking all over for this answer.

sweet...........

[GUIDE] How to make mymode themes

Well I haven't had much time lately to make themes but I figured i got enough time to explain how. This is how i do it in windows 7.
1) First thing i assume that you already have androidsdk on the root of your C drive. Lets go ahead and add it to your system path. If it's not called androidsdk go ahead and change it to that. Now open up your startmenu, right click computer, click properties, then click advanced system settings, in the advance system settings select environment variables. In the second box down look for path select it and choose edit. copy and paste this
Code:
;C:\androidsdk\tools
in there. Click okay.
2) download the jre and jdk from here and install them. Now you need to add them to your system path so copy paste this
Code:
;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_20\bin
to your system path just like you did in the first step.
3) Download apk manager from here. Now run it and when it says clean out all current projects click yes. Now thats ready to go.
4) Download an image editing program. I use gimp. Also if you don't have it 7-zip
your all set to go now so lets start over with the numbers
1) choose a mymode apk and extract it with 7-zip. Open up the res folder select a png that you want to change and change it with the image editor you chose.
2) when you've changed the images you want open up the original apk as an archive with 7zip. Then place the res folder of the modified unzipped apk into the archive and close the archive.
3) Now open up apk manager and place the mymode apk into the place here for signing folder click script batch choose no then type 15.
4) Now put the newly signed apk into your androidsdk/tools folder and close apk manager.
5) open command prompt and type this
Code:
cd\
cd androidsdk/tools
adb install whatever.apk
I'll update this with pics a more thorough guide.
Thanks to everyone that made this easy

reserved for themes to come

Thanks been waiting for a thread like this.

thanks, if i ever get any free-time between jobs and kid and fiancee i will look into this a little more

This is an awesome guide! I messed around with theming mytouch/g1 back when I had one.. so this will be great to make some themes for the slide..
One question though.. let's say you pull the nest theme.. theme it and re install it.. will it just override the nest theme or in the theme listing will it appear as a new theme and still allow you to have the original theme?
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

ryanolson7 said:
One question though.. let's say you pull the nest theme.. theme it and re install it.. will it just override the nest theme or in the theme listing will it appear as a new theme and still allow you to have the original theme?
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The nest theme is in the framework, its not an .apk like the rest, its built into the system. The rest of the mymodes themes are .apks and if you edit those they will override the stock "nest" theme. The only way it will show up different in the theme chooser is if you edit the preview snapshot to be a preview of your theme. If you wanna keep the original theme, the nest theme is it and you should edit a different theme .apk...
-BMFC
Sent from my ROOTED MyTouch3G Slide

Okay so I got the next three days off and I already got two mymode themes pretty much done well their done but I just learned of a way to change the name so they are there own standalone apk instead of using another apk name. I've been using puppypride (which by the way isn't puppies those are full grown dogs) and switching out the pngs and you couldn't have the regular puppypride now you can have both

hope you don't mind but I did a mod of your themes and took out the bubbles since some people always create threads about it

Help with following guide
I am a newb at this so please don't attack me if I am doing something wrong. I have been struggling with following the guide posted to make mymode themes. I have successfully got up to the step of signing the apk file. I modified the files in the free_kick.apk. When I try to use APK Manager 4.8 and using the directions given the file just gets erased and nothing happens. My log file just shows errors. Any help with a more detailed directions one what to do in APK manager as I am trying different things and not getting anywhere. I use the option 15 like told in the guide. I can send my modified apk file to anyone if they can get this to work and get it installed that would be appreciated so much. I hope I can figure this out my own but thought I would try get help from the forums. Thanks in advance.

impimms said:
I am a newb at this so please don't attack me if I am doing something wrong. I have been struggling with following the guide posted to make mymode themes. I have successfully got up to the step of signing the apk file. I modified the files in the free_kick.apk. When I try to use APK Manager 4.8 and using the directions given the file just gets erased and nothing happens. My log file just shows errors. Any help with a more detailed directions one what to do in APK manager as I am trying different things and not getting anywhere. I use the option 15 like told in the guide. I can send my modified apk file to anyone if they can get this to work and get it installed that would be appreciated so much. I hope I can figure this out my own but thought I would try get help from the forums. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the guide needs to be fixed a little because i'm guessing your getting compiling errors when using apk manager? But the best way to do this is to open up the mymode theme (using 7zip) as an archive delete meta-inf folder then replace the pngs with ones of your choice as long as they are the same scale. Then resign. and install

totally lost
I've followed these directions to a T and when it comes to using the apk manager i am getting nothing, please help

You guys that are having trouble with apk manager...its honestly not necessary to use Apk Manager for this. Mymodes themes are system .apks and shouldn't be re-signed. What you need to do is forget about apk manager (for now) and drop the UNsigned .apk into the ROM update you are using, and resign the whole ROM using the autosign tool created by jesusfreke. Or just adbpush the .apk. but don't resign the .apk.
Here's the link for the autosign tool to sign ROM updates. its in the THIRD POST and its auto-sign .zip, NOT the signing.zip in the first post. you can put it anywhere you want and you just drop (a copy of) your ROM update in the autosign folder, rename it update.zip, then run the sign.bat to sign. it will create another file, update-signed.zip. you shouldnt need to wipe when flashing the same ROM over itself, but i cant guarantee this is true for all ROMs.
you can also make an update that will only flash the .apk to /system/app, and nothing else will be changed. basically just make a copy of the update for the ROM youre using, then delete everything but the /system directory from the zip. then go into that /system directory and delete everything but the /app directory, then go into it and delete all the .apks and odex file or whatevers in there. ALL OF IT. when you are finished you should have an update with nothing in it but a /system/app directory. you put your modded .apk in there in /system/app, and thats it for that.
then you must edit the update script and remove MOST of its contents so that it only does what you want it to. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Go here to learn how to create an update script. what youll need is way simpler than the examples, youll want it to look basically like this...
Code:
assert compatible_with("0.2") == "true"
show_progress 0.1 0
copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:
show_progress 0.1 10
this update script will copy ANYTHING in the /system directory to /system on your device, regardless of subdirectories. that means anything in /system will go in /system, anything in /system/app will go to /system/app, etc. but since you only have one .apk in there it wont mess with anything but what you put in there. this way, you have a NOWIPE update for...well, whatever you want to put in it.
so you just drop the new shortened update-script in /META-INF/com/google/android/
and then use the autosign tool to resign your new update then flash away! This also takes less time cus its only flashing one file instead of flashing a whole ROM just to replace that one file...
hope this helps...
-BMFC
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

So you cannot do this on t-mobile's rom which is 2.1 right now? I'm leery of rooting in case they ever release froyo

Tbrewer80 said:
So you cannot do this on t-mobile's rom which is 2.1 right now? I'm leery of rooting in case they ever release froyo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having issues with this as well... After I do the whole signing apk thing, it installs fine, but when I go to MyModes, the preview is black and when I select it, the MyModes app force closes. I don't get it.

Editing PNG Files within APK --Help?

Hi guys, I'm trying to edit some .apk files.
I first extract the png file that I want to edit using 7zip.
I open up the file in photoshop, edit it, then save it as a file (interlaced and non interlaced.. i tried both).
I then dump the .png back into the apk.
When I try to install the file back onto my phone, I get "*Apk file* could not be installed on this phone"
Anyone want to help me out?
How do I edit the file without it giving me this error.

Ok based on ur status im assuming ur still new to the concept of apk editing.
Theres 2 types of apks.
1. System apks (/system/app) where once u edit them u dont have to resign them. You just PUSH it back to ur phone.
2. Data apks, (/data/app) where once u edit them u have to resign the apk and install them to ur phone.
If ur on a windows machine, download apk manager from my signature and it'll guide u through the process.

Daneshm90 said:
Ok based on ur status im assuming ur still new to the concept of apk editing.
Theres 2 types of apks.
1. System apks (/system/app) where once u edit them u dont have to resign them. You just PUSH it back to ur phone.
2. Data apks, (/data/app) where once u edit them u have to resign the apk and install them to ur phone.
If ur on a windows machine, download apk manager from my signature and it'll guide u through the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you SOOOOOO much. Yes I'm pretty new.. I'm good at graphic designing but I have no clue about these apk files
Once again thank you

How to change icon apps on the app drawer? (rooted)

I'm trying to change the icons on the app drawer with Root Explorer but I can't find the correct PNG to replace that on the system/app/"application.apk"/res/drawable/_____.png
Anyone knows the right name of the icon?
Thanks!

res/drawable-hdpi/file_manager_r.png ypu will have to turn the apk into a zip then put your new file into the hdpi folder and change the zip back to an apk then re install

Can I follow this steps with the Captivate or I need to do this on the computer?
Any easy way?
Thanks for the tip!

hi, i changed an image in drawable-hdpi in "phone.apk" (ic_jog_dial_unlock.png) like aceman said, but if i try to install new phone.apk it says "application not installed" (or something similar, my language phone is not english). how can i install new phone.apk??
I tried to istall it from recovery and there is the same result
thanks

You have to push the phone.apk file into /system/app with a root explorer or adb. Just installing it won't work like most other apks.

i have "root browser", can i use it? can u say to me all the steps i have to do with it or adb? i'm not an android expert user...

up...anyone ca help me?

install a different launcher app that lets you customize it. try launcherpro from the android market.
you wont understand the mod instructions.

screw it here they are...
mod instructions... basic if you need more info. learn to search there are 4000 guides on how to change an app image.
you need winrar on windows. if you arent running windows you should know better.
use root level file manager to go to 'system/app' folder and copy your launcher.apk to sdcard.
copy to PC
right click .apk > open with... > choose program > WinRar
look through folders inside APK and copy all folders with .PNG images to desktop (or work folder)
look through the images in the folders (change veiw to thumbnails) and find the name of the image you want to change and the name of the folder it was in.
Go get, or create your custom image, and name it that name. **Close to original shape size.
Use winRar to open the .APK again and naviage to the place where your image goes and drop the new one into that folder.
A window with options will come up and select Compression Profile : STORE
Click ok
Close winrar.
Copy .apk to SDcard
Use root file manager to rename original /system/app/launcher.apk to launcher.apk.bak (backup)
Then copy your modded .apk to /system/app.
Reboot (pull battery)
DONT MESS WITH ANY IMAGE ENDING IN .9.PNG only regular .pngs
for more on .9.pngs... search google.. what is ....

i*have*to*modify*phone.apk,*no*launcher.apk..*i*just*did*steps*you*sayd,*but*if*i*try*to*rename*phone.apk,*my*nexus*goes*in*full*crash

fist off this is the Captivate forums. not nexus.
and i was giving help to OP question not yours. either way the *stars*and*sp ac*es are friggin annoying. use your computer if your phone is messed up.
if you "tried" to modify the name... DID IT? try doesnt tell me much.
if it wouldnt let you, then nothing changed and your phone is screwed up from something else.
if it DID rename, then CHANGE IT BACK.. duh.

sorry for space and *, i wrote it with the mouse using google translate keybord and i saw them when i cut/past the text
i "tried" to rename phone.apk, so the phone went in a full crash and i had to restore system using an old backup in recovery

paino85 said:
sorry for space and *, i wrote it with the mouse using google translate keybord and i saw them when i cut/past the text
i "tried" to rename phone.apk, so the phone went in a full crash and i had to restore system using an old backup in recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try apktool to extract all replace wteva ocon u want to and rebuild apk using the same tool and u need to sign the apk usin signapk tool so that device can recognise the.apk file for installation. I have done this and everything went fine in galaxy note. But i couldn't locate the file to rename the icon. Icon changing was not a prob.