Apk decompiler?

Howlin1

I am trying to find an apk decompiler. I want to learn how to make apps in html/css/js. I have used APKtools, but that decompiles apk into xml documents and Dex2Ja, but that decompiles stuff into a jar file and then .class files but no pictures etc. Is there an apk decompiler that will decompile them into html/css/etc files?

The Corinthian

The short answer is I doubt it very much.

To begin with, you appear to be suffering from a misconception of what goes into an APK. Android APK's are, when uncompiled, a collection of the following file types:

• Java files - the actual source code of the app business logic.
• XML files - used to define layouts, string variables and the app manifest.
• Miscellaneous resource and asset files - typically media files, such as images, but can often include other file types, such as SQL scripts.

You might find some html/css/js files in the last group, but they're more assets/resources than actual source code. As such, what you're looking for would technically not only have to decompile the APK, but then convert it into html/css/js files and I don't think you're likely to see someone write something like that (but never say never).

However, some APK's are written using platforms that do use html/css/js as the primary languages/technologies and what happens with them is these are essentially bundled into the compiled APK and then interpreted by the framework engine, which will form the core of the APK, during runtime - this is why apps written like this tend to be quite bloated and sluggish compared to natively written ones.

As such, you could decompile a natively written APK, by using something that extracts the Jars and then something that decompiles Java class files (or something that does both). But you would be getting Java, not html/css/js in the end.

Or if the app was written using a platform, you should be able to extract the assets / resources that make up the html/css/js source (although this too may be compiled into an intermediary language, depending upon the framework used).

If you want to write apps using html/css/js, then I suggest you look up some of the more popular platforms out there that employ those technologies, such as Adobe AIR or Appcelerator Titanium. These will typically come with all the necessary documentation and tutorials to get you started.

Howlin1

Okay thanks. Atm I am using the Feedhenry platform to make them, but what I have done isn't much and I run into problems a good bit. I'll look into the links you gave me, thanks

seeryk

Look up reverse engineering java files. The java bitcode is relatively easy to decompile with teh right tools.
it's not something i've looked at in a while so just google it and see what comes up. Should be well covered.