AwesomeREA.org

Tool

APKLab

VS Code extension that turns the editor into an Android reverse-engineering workbench around Apktool, Jadx, smali-lsp and uber-apk-signer. It decodes an APK into resources and Smali, decompiles it to Java, gives Smali go-to-definition, references and diagnostics through a language server, and rebuilds, signs and installs the modified app. It can also generate Frida hooks for Smali methods, add a Frida gadget, prepare an app for HTTPS traffic inspection with apk-mitm and produce a Quark-Engine malware-analysis report.

Requirements and limitations

  • The latest tag, v2.0.0, dated 2026-04-06 in the changelog, added smali-lsp, Frida hook generation and gadget injection and Apktool 3.0+ compatibility; the reviewed master commit of 2026-07-16 is five commits ahead of it. The extension is published on the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX, and package.json requires VS Code 1.91+. The README lists Linux, macOS and WSL2, and CI also builds and tests it on Windows.
  • JDK 17+ is required. On first use the extension downloads the tools named in the project’s update configuration into a .apklab folder in the user’s home directory, at review Apktool 3.0.2, smali-lsp 1.5.0, uber-apk-signer 1.3.0 and Jadx 1.5.6, unless the user sets their paths. adb is optional for installing to a device, and Quark-Engine 21.01.6+ is optional for malware reports. Users supply the APKs.
  • CI lints and packages the extension and runs its test suite on Ubuntu, macOS and Windows against a sample open-source APK from the separate testdata repository; this checks the integration, not the bundled tools’ results on real apps. Jadx output can be incomplete, and rebuilt APKs are re-signed with uber-apk-signer, using the configured keystore when one is set.
  • AGPL-3.0; Apktool, Jadx, smali-lsp, uber-apk-signer, apk-mitm, Frida and Quark-Engine keep their own licenses. HTTPS-inspection patching and gadget injection modify the app under analysis, and the tool grants no rights to analyze, patch or redistribute third-party apps. This review installed nothing and modified no apps.

About this entry

Type
Tool
Category
Android tools
Relationship
Foundation tool
Targets
App

Sources reviewed

The description was reviewed against primary sources. This does not establish runtime testing, security auditing or verified compatibility.

Primary sources

  1. README.md GitHub · APKLab/APKLab · Revision 6ae69b1
  2. CHANGELOG.md GitHub · APKLab/APKLab · Revision 6ae69b1
  3. package.json GitHub · APKLab/APKLab · Revision 6ae69b1
  4. src/data/constants.ts GitHub · APKLab/APKLab · Revision 6ae69b1
  5. .github/workflows/apklab.yml GitHub · APKLab/APKLab · Revision 6ae69b1
  6. LICENSE GitHub · APKLab/APKLab · Revision 6ae69b1
  7. static/apklab_update_config.json GitHub · APKLab/website · Revision f8afc6d