adb shell command to check the apk is debug or release signed?

Question

How to check if apk is debug or release signed?
Is there any direct adb command to verify apk signature?

Tried the following dumpsys and aapt commands, but I am not able to find the exact flag

adb shell dumpsys package <package name>
aapt dump badging <apk file>

How to find out the given apk is debug or release signed? How to know which builds (user, userdebug or eng) we can install this apk?

to check if an installed app is debuggable see http://stackoverflow.com/a/29054837/1778421 — Alex P., Jan 12 '17 at 08:35

score 19 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 24 '17 at 02:02

19

If you want to check whether the apk is debuggable use the below aapt command.

aapt dump badging /path/to/apk | grep -c application-debuggable

Outputs 1: Debuggable Outputs 0: Not Debuggable.

edited Jan 24 '17 at 02:02

Lava Sangeetham

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answered Jan 12 '17 at 07:48

Rohith Krishnan

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Google Play installed apps are **not** allowed to be debuggable. – not2qubit Feb 03 '17 at 11:37
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On Windows, this tool is in %ANDROID_SDK%\build-tools\\aapt.exe – youen Sep 29 '17 at 07:26
Not sure if it changed since this answer was posted but trying with the aapt command from SKD 30, it looks like if you see "application-debuggable" in the output, it is a debug app, otherwise a release app. – MemoryLeak Mar 10 '22 at 20:22

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 12 '18 at 07:18

9

i've tried a lot of stuff and came upon the following solution:

adb shell dumpsys package <package name> | findstr flags

if the build is debuggable, the "flags" line will have "DEBUGGABLE" parameter present. If it's not there, the build is not debug

answered Jun 12 '18 at 07:18

Claudiu Balta

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This should be the accepted answer because it works on older devices and specifically devices that do not have aapt installed as is the case on my Android 4.3 custom device. – Farrukh Najmi Feb 04 '19 at 21:27
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Thanks! Please note this works for windows only. For linux you have to use grep to find that particular line – Claudiu Balta Feb 06 '19 at 09:08

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 12 '17 at 07:42

4

You seem to be confused. Apks usually have debug and release versions. And eng, userdebug and user build types are used for the whole firmware images.

You can find build information (if properly populated by builder) by using

adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint

answered Jan 12 '17 at 07:42

Alex P.

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in what way does this command link to the apk/the installed application I want to check? This always returns me the same result, no matter what I have installed – Cliff Burton Sep 15 '22 at 10:43

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 16 '23 at 11:38

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run-as might provide a hint:

$ adb shell run-as com.example.foo.bar
run-as: package not debuggable: com.example.foo.bar

answered Jan 16 '23 at 11:38

auselen

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adb shell command to check the apk is debug or release signed?

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