Android App Analysis - JEB Decompiler
Author: PNF Software

# Android App Analysis

JEB is a well-known industry tool used to reverse-engineer and audit Android applications.

Using JEB, you can:

- Analyze APK files and their contents, including DEX files, Certificates, Resources, Assets, Native Library code, etc.
- Examine encoded resource files and manifests: JEB ships with its own resource decoder, with support for obfuscated resource names and locations.
- Examine certificates data (legacy, v2, and v3)
- Decompile DEX bytecode, with full-support for multi-DEX reconstruction.
- Analyze native library (.so) code: more on the Native code analysis section
- Debug Android applications (Dalvik and Native - x86, arm, mips - code) and transition seamlessly from Dalvik to Native, and vice-versa.
- API support for client scripts in Python, back-end plugins in Java, and client contributions (UI overlays).

Section under construction. Please head over to our Blog to learn more about specific features of our Android modules.

## Blogs

Link: All PNF Software blog posts tagged Android.

## Using additional frameworks

When analyzing applications using resources located in other frameworks that the Android Framework (e.g. the Samsung framework), follow those steps:

- retrieve the framework archive, which is normally stored on the device; let's call it framework.zip
- run `aapt2 dump framework.zip` and retrieve the first line, which will be something like Package name=xxxxxxx id=N. Note the id, N
- navigate to the folder listed in your `.parsers.apk.FrameworksDirectory` engines property. Typically, it will be the `HOME_FOLDER/.jeb-android-frameworks` folder
- copy framework.zip into this folder, and rename it to N.zip
- JEB should now be able to pick up that framework and use its resources when needed

> Note: 1.zip in the FrameworksDirectory folder is the Android Framework itself, which has id 1

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