---
id: apkinspector
version: "1.3.6"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# apkInspector — apkInspector is a tool designed to provide detailed insights into the zip structure of APK files, offering the capability to extract content and decode the AndroidManifest.xml file.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 2.1M/mo

## What it is and what it does

apkInspector is a Python library and CLI tool for analyzing Android APK files by reading their zip structure directly, without relying on external parsing libraries. It extracts file contents, decodes the AndroidManifest.xml binary format, and identifies tampering indicators such as multiple central directory records, unknown compression methods, and malformed manifest structures. The tool is designed for security researchers and developers who need to perform static analysis on APKs that use evasion techniques or fail to parse with standard tools.

The library is built with extensibility in mind, allowing integration into other security tools. It supports both programmatic use via a Python API and command-line operations for listing files, extracting contents, analyzing manifests, and checking for evasion indicators. It has no runtime dependencies and supports Python 3.5 through 3.14, making it portable across environments.

Use it for:

- Analyze malicious or evasive APKs that standard Android tools cannot parse
- Extract and inspect AndroidManifest.xml from APKs for permission and component analysis
- Detect APK tampering and structural anomalies in security research workflows
- Integrate APK parsing into custom security scanning or threat analysis pipelines
- Batch process multiple APKs to identify common evasion patterns or structural issues

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Parses APK files according to the zip specification, extracts contents, decodes AndroidManifest.xml, and identifies static analysis evasion techniques without external library dependencies.

Yes. Active maintenance, no dependencies, permissive license, and zero known vulnerabilities make it a low-risk addition. Install if you need to analyze APKs programmatically or from the CLI, especially those that fail with standard tools. The library design supports both standalone use and integration into larger security workflows.

## Install

pip install apkinspector
uv add apkinspector
poetry add apkinspector

## Installing apkInspector

Before you install: Low friction; pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent commits and updates across Python 3.5 through 3.14.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions; attribution required.

Quickstart:

pip install apkInspector

from apkinspector import APKInspector

apk = APKInspector('path/to/app.apk')
manifest = apk.get_manifest()

Verify before relying:

- Whether the library API is stable and documented beyond docstrings (docs link not provided in fact sheet)
- Performance characteristics on large or malformed APKs
- Specific evasion techniques detected and their coverage

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 2.1M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

apk parser android manifest, extract apk contents, decode androidmanifest xml, apk static analysis evasion, zip structure inspection, apk tampering detection, android security analysis, android-security, malware-analysis, static-analysis

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/apkinspector) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/apkinspector/)