Android XML Extracted from APK - Bad Encoding

Question

Using DDMS I took a downloaded APK off my phone and unzipped it.

The PNGs look great, but when I try to read the XMLs their encoding is such that none of my text editors can read it (Word, Notepad, Visual Studio etc)

Is there something done to the XMLs in a APK that prevents us from reading them?

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 27 '10 at 01:39

You can decode them using a Java program - AXMLPrinter2.jar.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=514412

http://code.google.com/p/android4me/downloads/detail?name=AXMLPrinter2.jar&can=2&q=

I'm sure there are better details out there, but that should set you on the right path.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

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Take a look at android-apktool, as detailed here.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Feb 29 '12 at 12:47

Chris Lacy

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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 09 '13 at 20:09

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You can see some implementation through aapt tool.

Navigate to "platform-tools" in your sdk folder.

copy and paste the apk to this folder.

Execute the command: " aapt l -a apk_name.apk "

Where the "apk_name.apk" is your apk's name.

edited Jun 09 '13 at 20:09

jcwenger

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answered Mar 28 '13 at 12:55

Franklin Hirata

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 27 '10 at 01:35

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The XML files are stored in a compiled format. From android docs:

When you compile your application, each XML layout file is compiled into a View resource.

I'm not aware of a decompiler, its probably possible though.

answered Jul 27 '10 at 01:35

Cheryl Simon

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Android XML Extracted from APK - Bad Encoding

4 Answers4