ApkInstaller

A small, open source Android app to install APK files and split APKs — no ads, no analytics, no tracking.

Inspired by SAI (Split APKs Installer), but written from scratch in Kotlin + Jetpack Compose.

Features

• Install .apk, .apks (SAI / bundletool), .xapk (APKPure) and unencrypted .apkm files
• Install several loose APKs at once (base + splits) using multi-select
• Automatically picks the splits that match your device (CPU architecture, screen density, languages); you can change the selection manually
• Shows the version to install and the installed version, and warns about downgrades and incompatible architectures
• "Open with" / "Share" from file managers and browsers
• Material You, light and dark themes
• Rootless: uses Android's official PackageInstaller API. Android 8.0+ (API 26)

Usage

1. Download the latest ApkInstaller-x.y.z-release.apk from Releases and install it.
2. Open the app and tap Select file (or Select multiple APKs), or share/open a file with ApkInstaller from another app.
3. Review the splits and tap Install. The first time, Android will ask you to allow ApkInstaller to install unknown apps.

Google Play Protect may show a warning for apps it hasn't seen before. That is normal for sideloaded apps.

Building

Requirements: JDK 17+ and the Android SDK (compileSdk 37).

./gradlew assembleDebug          # debug build
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest      # unit tests
./gradlew assembleRelease        # local release build -> app/build/outputs/apk/release/

Signing release builds

Release signing is read from a keystore.properties file in the project root (git-ignored). Without it, assembleRelease produces an unsigned APK.

keytool -genkeypair -v -keystore ~/.android/apkinstaller-release.jks -alias apkinstaller \
  -keyalg RSA -keysize 4096 -validity 10000

# keystore.properties
storeFile=/absolute/path/to/apkinstaller-release.jks
storePassword=...
keyAlias=apkinstaller
keyPassword=...

Always sign releases with the same key; otherwise users can't update without uninstalling first.

Versioning and releases

The version lives in gradle.properties as appVersionName (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH); versionCode is derived from it as MAJOR * 10000 + MINOR * 100 + PATCH.

To publish a release, bump appVersionName in a pull request and merge it into main. The Release workflow then builds and signs the APK and publishes it as GitHub Release vX.Y.Z (with a .sha256 checksum and auto-generated notes). Pushes that don't change the version don't create a release.

CI signing uses these repository secrets: RELEASE_KEYSTORE_BASE64 (base64 -i release.jks), RELEASE_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD, RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS and RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD.

Project structure

Package	Purpose
parser	Binary AndroidManifest.xml parser, archive extraction, split classification and selection (pure Kotlin, unit tested)
data	Copies the selected documents into the app cache and builds the package description
installer	PackageInstaller session installer and result receiver
ui	Compose screens, ViewModel and theme

License

MIT