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Extracting An Apk File

There are two methods to extract .apk files from an Android device: 1. Using a file manager like ES File Manager or ASTRO File Manager which requires a rooted device. The extracted files are placed in the backups directory of the SD card. 2. Using the Android SDK which requires a rooted device, the Android SDK installed, and USB drivers. This method uses ADB commands to pull the .apk files from the data/app folder on the device to the computer.

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Homer Java
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35 views

Extracting An Apk File

There are two methods to extract .apk files from an Android device: 1. Using a file manager like ES File Manager or ASTRO File Manager which requires a rooted device. The extracted files are placed in the backups directory of the SD card. 2. Using the Android SDK which requires a rooted device, the Android SDK installed, and USB drivers. This method uses ADB commands to pull the .apk files from the data/app folder on the device to the computer.

Uploaded by

Homer Java
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Extracting .

apk files from your Android



Ok, so the story behind this mini-tutorial is that I live with other people that have Galaxies and I upgrade their phones periodically, as part of the upgrade process I have to wipe the phones and a nandroid backup doesn't always work (like if you go from 1.5 to 1.6.3.4) and with the wipe some important things are lost: APN settings, Hebrew fonts, Hebrew Keyboard, etc. I have to install the keyboard, fonts, script utility, etc. every time on every phone; some of these apps are in the market, but to use the market you need to do the setup wizard to add your Google account to the phone. And sine sometimes the owners of the phones aren't around, I need to have the .apk files with the apps I need to install so I can do it without downloading them from the market. Hence, I had to figure out a way to extract the .apk files from my phone so I could install them on theirs. Here's how it's done:

There are two ways of extracting .apk files from your device: 1. 2. Using a file manager like "EStrongs File Manager" or "ASTRO File Manger" (downloadable from the Market), or Manually extracting .apk files through the Android SDK.

Method #1 - Using a file manager Prerequisite: Rooted device

Using ES File Manager Open ES File Manager Click on the menu button of your device Click on "Manager" Click on "App Manager" Long press on app you want to extract Click on "backup" Extracted .apk files will be placed on the "backups" directory of your sd card

Using ASTRO Open ASTRO File Manager Click on the menu button of your device Click on "tools" Click on "Application Manager/Backup" Choose apps to backup and click on "backup" to finish Extracted .apk files will be placed on the "backups" directory of your sd card

Method #2 - Using the Android SDK

Prerequisites: - Rooted phone - Android SDK (follow Step 2.1 of this tutorial to install the Android SDK) - Android USB driver (to get your computer to recognize your phone)

To extract a .apk file from your device using the Android SDK: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Plug your Rooted Android device into your computer via the included USB cable. From your adb command line (usually C:\android-sdk-windows\tools\) type adb shell and press enter Switch to root user, type su and press enter type cd data/app and press enter List all the installed apk files, type ls and press enter (find the one you want to extract) In another command window, pull one of the files on to your computer by typing: adb pull /data/app/application.apk name.apk and press enter Example: adb pull data/app/com.mauri.aplikeishon.apk aplikeishon.apk

You can find the extracted .apk files in the /tools/ directory of your SDK (usually C:\android-sdkwindows\tools\)

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