[android] How to Sign an Already Compiled Apk

Automated Process:

Use this tool (uses the new apksigner from Google):

https://github.com/patrickfav/uber-apk-signer

Disclaimer: Im the developer :)

Manual Process:

Step 1: Generate Keystore (only once)

You need to generate a keystore once and use it to sign your unsigned apk. Use the keytool provided by the JDK found in %JAVA_HOME%/bin/

keytool -genkey -v -keystore my.keystore -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -alias app

Step 2 or 4: Zipalign

zipalign which is a tool provided by the Android SDK found in e.g. %ANDROID_HOME%/sdk/build-tools/24.0.2/ is a mandatory optimization step if you want to upload the apk to the Play Store.

zipalign -p 4 my.apk my-aligned.apk

Note: when using the old jarsigner you need to zipalign AFTER signing. When using the new apksigner method you do it BEFORE signing (confusing, I know). Invoking zipalign before apksigner works fine because apksigner preserves APK alignment and compression (unlike jarsigner).

You can verify the alignment with

zipalign -c 4 my-aligned.apk

Step 3: Sign & Verify

Using build-tools 24.0.2 and older

Use jarsigner which, like the keytool, comes with the JDK distribution found in %JAVA_HOME%/bin/ and use it like so:

jarsigner -verbose -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore my.keystore my-app.apk my_alias_name

and can be verified with

jarsigner -verify -verbose my_application.apk

Using build-tools 24.0.3 and newer

Android 7.0 introduces APK Signature Scheme v2, a new app-signing scheme that offers faster app install times and more protection against unauthorized alterations to APK files (See here and here for more details). Therefore, Google implemented their own apk signer called apksigner (duh!) The script file can be found in %ANDROID_HOME%/sdk/build-tools/24.0.3/ (the .jar is in the /lib subfolder). Use it like this

apksigner sign --ks my.keystore my-app.apk --ks-key-alias alias_name

and can be verified with

apksigner verify my-app.apk

The official documentation can be found here.

Examples related to android

Under what circumstances can I call findViewById with an Options Menu / Action Bar item? How to implement a simple scenario the OO way My eclipse won't open, i download the bundle pack it keeps saying error log getting " (1) no such column: _id10 " error java doesn't run if structure inside of onclick listener Cannot retrieve string(s) from preferences (settings) strange error in my Animation Drawable how to put image in a bundle and pass it to another activity FragmentActivity to Fragment A failure occurred while executing com.android.build.gradle.internal.tasks

Examples related to android-install-apk

Cannot install signed apk to device manually, got error "App not installed" Android App Not Install. An existing package by the same name with a conflicting signature is already installed How to Sign an Already Compiled Apk How to run (not only install) an android application using .apk file? Android Failed to install HelloWorld.apk on device (null) Error How do I solve the INSTALL_FAILED_DEXOPT error? How to build an APK file in Eclipse? What is INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES error?

Examples related to apk

Application Installation Failed in Android Studio Difference between signature versions - V1 (Jar Signature) and V2 (Full APK Signature) while generating a signed APK in Android Studio? Session 'app': Error Installing APK Android Error Building Signed APK: keystore.jks not found for signing config 'externalOverride' Build and Install unsigned apk on device without the development server? The APK file does not exist on disk Android Studio: Application Installation Failed How to retrieve Key Alias and Key Password for signed APK in android studio(migrated from Eclipse) ADB Install Fails With INSTALL_FAILED_TEST_ONLY Upload failed You need to use a different version code for your APK because you already have one with version code 2