When comparing Apktool vs APK Easy Tool, the Slant community recommends APK Easy Tool for most people. In the question“What are the best apk decompilation tools?” APK Easy Tool is ranked 2nd while Apktool is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose APK Easy Tool is:
The user interface is easy to use as every relevant option is on the main screen. The drag and drop function allows you to quickly change a file for a modified one and then recompile the APK for testing by deploying it on a smartphone or an emulator.
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Pros
Pro Capable of disassembling resources to near-original form
It can disassemble resources in APK binaries to their nearly-original form, including resources.arsc
, classes.dex
, 9.png
, and XMLs. Apktool is the best tool for users who want to get as many resources as possible from an APK.
Pro Can recompile the APK
Apktool decompiles to Smali which is a low-level code language, this allows the user to make changes, recompile, sign, and test to see the changes.
Pro Can decode and build most APKs
Every Apktool release has the most up to date AOSP (Android Open Source Project) framework binding at the time of the release. This allows to decompile and build most APKs without a problem.
Pro Can look inside and modify an APK
The user interface is easy to use as every relevant option is on the main screen. The drag and drop function allows you to quickly change a file for a modified one and then recompile the APK for testing by deploying it on a smartphone or an emulator.
Pro Is actively supported
The developer regularly fixes bugs and solves issues in the software. See changelogs here.
Pro Can be used online
A web version is available here.
Pro Allows signing
Android OS requires the app to be signed, this can be done with this tool.
Cons
Con Requires command line knowledge
Users not familiar with a CLI might struggle to use this tool. For them, it is recommended to use other options such as JADX or APK EasyTool.
Con Decompiles to Smali
Smali code can be harder to understand because it is a low-level code language.
Con Unable to give a quick overview of an APK
Does not come with a GUI or built-in text/file viewer/editor.
Con Can't get Java source code from APK
As it is meant to be able to recompile, information would be lost decompiling to Java and recompilation would not be posible.
Con No built-in code viewer/editor
A third party text editor or IDE is necessary to see and edit the files inside the decompiled APK.
Con Third party dependencies
You need to download and install .NET Framework >4.6.2 and Java SE/JDK.
