The standard for decompiling APKs into Smali code and resources. Also rebuilds APKs after editing. Essential for any rebranding workflow.

Decompiles APK/DEX to readable Java source code. GUI and CLI modes. Best tool for understanding app logic quickly.

The GUI version of jadx — browse decompiled code in a tree view, search across classes, export Gradle project. Great for exploration.

Converts DEX bytecode to JAR files, which can then be opened in Java decompilers like JD-GUI. Older but still useful in some workflows.

Java decompiler GUI — view source code from JAR files. Pair with dex2jar for a classic decompile chain.

NSA's reverse engineering suite. Overkill for most APK work, but invaluable for analyzing native libraries (.so files) packed inside APKs.

All-in-one Java decompiler with multiple decompiler engines (Procyon, CFR, FernFlower). Open APKs/JARs and compare decompiler output side by side.

After editing resources/Smali, rebuild with `apktool b`. The core of any rebranding workflow — modify app name, icons, colors, layouts, and package structure.

For importing decompiled projects, editing layouts visually, and understanding resource references. Use jadx export to Gradle then open in AS.

Visual APK editor for quick rebranding — change app name, icon, version, and basic resources without touching code. Good for simple reskins.

Chinese APK editing tool popular in the rebranding community. Supports Smali editing, string replacement, signature patching, and batch processing.

For rebranding, you'll manually edit: AndroidManifest.xml (package name, permissions, labels), res/values/strings.xml (app text), res/values/colors.xml (theme), and Smali files (code changes).

Google's official APK signing tool (part of Android SDK build-tools). Supports v1, v2, v3, and v4 signing schemes. Required for modern Android.

Optimizes APK by aligning uncompressed entries to 4-byte boundaries. Must be run BEFORE signing with apksigner. Part of Android SDK build-tools.

Legacy signing tool included with JDK. Only does v1 (JAR) signing. Use apksigner for modern apps, but useful as a fallback.

All-in-one signing tool — zipalign + sign + verify in one command. Handles v1/v2/v3 signing automatically. Great for batch rebranding workflows.

Generate your own signing keystore: keytool -genkey -v -keystore my.keystore -alias mykey -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000. Essential for self-signing rebranded APKs.

Automated mobile app security testing framework. Upload an APK and get a full report — manifest analysis, permissions, hardcoded secrets, insecure configs. Great for auditing before/after rebranding.

Upload rebranded APK to check against 70+ antivirus engines. Verify your rebranded APK doesn't trigger false positives before distribution.

Built into Android Studio. Inspects APK structure, shows file sizes by type, reveals method counts, and browses DEX contents without full decompile.

Quickly inspect APK metadata — package name, version, SDK levels, permissions, signing info, and file hashes without decompiling.

Dynamic instrumentation toolkit. Hook into running apps to trace method calls, modify return values, bypass SSL pinning, and understand runtime behavior. Essential for advanced reverse engineering.

Frida-based runtime exploration tool. Higher-level than raw Frida scripts — built-in commands for bypassing SSL pinning, dumping keychain, exploring classes, and more.

Module framework for modifying app behavior without changing the APK. Write Xposed modules to hook methods at runtime. LSPosed is the modern fork for newer Android versions.

Capture and inspect network traffic from the app. mitmproxy for HTTPS interception (with SSL pinning bypass via Frida/objection). Understand what APIs the app talks to.

Full Linux terminal on Android. Install Java, apktool, jadx, Python, Frida — your entire PC toolchain on your phone. The most powerful on-device option for serious rebranding.

Dual-pane file manager with built-in APK decompiling, editing, and signing. View Smali, edit resources, translate strings, and sign APKs — all on your phone. One of the most popular on-device tools in the rebranding community.

Visual APK editor for Android — edit resources, replace strings, change images, and modify the manifest without touching code. Supports both full edit and simple patch modes. Great for quick reskins.

Android port of apktool — decompile, edit Smali and resources, rebuild and sign APKs directly on your device. Supports batch operations and has a clean file browser interface.

Powerful on-device APK editor — Smali editing, string replacement, signature patching, dex patching, and translation tools. Popular in the Chinese rebranding community with English UI available.

All-in-one Android APK analysis and editing tool. Decompile to Smali, edit resources, view and patch DEX, check permissions, and sign — all from a single app interface.

On-device tool for bypassing APK signature verification checks. Patches Smali code to skip signature validation so rebranded APKs run without triggering anti-tampering detection.

Code editors for Android with syntax highlighting for XML, Smali, JSON, and more. QuickEdit is fast with multi-tab editing; Acode is open source with GitHub integration. Use either to edit decompiled APK files on the go.

On-device hex editor for viewing and patching binary files — edit DEX headers, patch native .so libraries, or modify any binary data directly. Search, replace, and goto offset support.

Dedicated tool for replacing app launcher icons. Pick any APK, choose a new PNG/icon set, and rebuild. Handles all density buckets (mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi, xxhdpi, xxxhdpi) automatically.

The standard Java/Android code obfuscator. Shrinks, optimizes, and obfuscates code by renaming classes/methods/fields to short meaningless names. Included with the Android SDK. Most APKs you encounter will have been through ProGuard.

Google's replacement for ProGuard, default since Android Gradle Plugin 3.4. Combines shrinking, desugaring, and obfuscation in one step. Produces DEX directly instead of JAR→DEX. Most modern apps use R8.

Commercial Android-specific obfuscator and protector by Guardsquare. Adds encryption, runtime checks, tamper detection, and string encryption on top of ProGuard. The most robust protection you'll encounter. Hard to bypass without Frida.

Java obfuscator with string encryption, control flow obfuscation, and watermarking. Sometimes used in Android apps that bundle JAR libraries. Look for it in apps with heavy string encryption.

One of the most popular APK packers, especially in the Chinese app market. Encrypts DEX files and decrypts at runtime. Often detected by a native library (libsecexe.so or similar) in the APK. Free tier available.

Tencent's APK packing service. Widely used in Chinese apps. Encrypts DEX and loads via native code at runtime. Recognizable by libshell.so or libshella.so in the lib directory. Free to use via Tencent Cloud.

Qihoo 360's APK protection service. Another extremely common Chinese packer. Look for libjiagu.so or libjiagu_x86.so. Free tier available. One of the most frequently encountered packers when rebranding Chinese apps.

APK protector that encrypts DEX, adds anti-debug, and includes resource protection. Less common than Bangcle/Legu but encountered in some apps. Check for libnaga.so in the APK.

Chinese APK protection service with DEX encryption, anti-tampering, and runtime checks. Look for libexec.so or similar native libs. Has a free online packing service.

Runtime DEX dumping tool that works on most common packers. Runs on the device, hooks the DEX loading process, and dumps the original unencrypted DEX from memory. Supports many Chinese packers out of the box.

Frida script that dumps DEX files from memory at runtime. Works by scanning process memory for DEX magic bytes. Effective against most packers that decrypt DEX in memory. Requires root or Frida server running.

Collection of scripts for extracting original DEX from packed APKs. Various approaches: memory dump, ART hooking, custom ClassLoader interception. Useful when BlackDex or FRIDA-DEXDump don't work.

Art-based unpacking framework that hooks the Android runtime to dump DEX during class loading. More reliable than memory scanning for heavily protected apps. Requires building a custom ROM or using a patched emulator.

Online deobfuscation service that attempts to map obfuscated names back to meaningful ones using statistical analysis. Upload a mapping file or APK and it predicts original class/method names. Best for ProGuard/R8 obfuscated apps.

Generic Android deobfuscation tool that analyzes and simplifies obfuscated DEX code. Removes dead code, simplifies control flow, and inlines method calls. Works best on control-flow obfuscation from tools like DexGuard.

Tools for decrypting obfuscated strings in Java/Android code. Many obfuscators encrypt string constants — these tools help recover the original strings by analyzing the decryption routines.