Android Apps

Basic Information

• APK zip compressed archive
• Contains all of the code and resources needed for an app to run

APK Structure

Item	Description
androidmanifest.xml	Contains a description of the apps package name, target API version, configuration, component, permissions and more
META-INF	Contains all of the app metadata
Assets	is a directory of app assets such as pictures, javascript and XML files
Classes.dex	Contains the classes compiled in DEX file format
Lib	3rd party libraries
Res	Directory of directories of resources that haven't been compiled into resources.arsc
Resources.arsc	Precompiled resources such as strings and styles

Important Folders

• /data/app/com.app.name
  • Where apps are installed to
• /data/data/com.app.name
  • Where app data is created during runtime

/data/data/directory

Item	Description
Cache	Stores cache files
Code_cache	Stores cached code (older versions of Android)
Databases	SQLite DBs
Files	Stores regular files created by the application
Lib	Native Libraries
Shared_Prefs	XML files storing values

Installing Apps

adb install app.apk

• Play Store

• 3rd Party App Stores

  • Enable Install apps from unsafe sources