AndroCompare is a tool which takes two Android Apps (.APK files), compares them on a variety of factors and saves the resulting differences and similarities in a database.

This tool is extremely fast and can be used to do massive comparison of a large number of apps quickly. Two sample apps named app1.apk and app2.apk are provided. These apps have been compared and their results are saved in the database so that you can see how the results are organized.

Moreover if two apps have same package name but differ hugely in the number of permissions requested and the activities etc then there's a strong chance that one of them is repackaged. So, this tool can highlight the extra permissions/activities added to the repackaged version and consequently help in malware detection too.

In order to create a dataset of apps, we wrote another tool: Android Apsp Scraper/Downloader

For details regarding citing/referencing this tool for your research, check the 'Citation' section below.

It compares apps for differences in:

• permissions requested
• activities
• services
• broadcast receivers
• content providers
• apk size
• version name and code
• signing certificate

and saves the results in an organized way in a SQLite database.

CREATE TABLE `APPS` (
	`app1_name`	TEXT,
	`app2_name`	TEXT,
	`app1_package`	TEXT,
	`app2_package`	TEXT,
	`app1_size`	TEXT,
	`app2_size`	TEXT,
	`app1_version_name`	TEXT,
	`app2_version_name`	TEXT,
	`app1_version_code`	TEXT,
	`app2_version_code`	TEXT,
	`perm_analysis`	TEXT,
	`perm_same`	TEXT,
	`perm_added`	TEXT,
	`perm_removed`	TEXT,
	`perm_add_count`	TEXT,
	`app1_cert`	TEXT,
	`app2_cert`	TEXT,
	`cert_diff`	TEXT,
	`app1_main_activity`	TEXT,
	`app2_main_activity`	TEXT,
	`main_activity_diff`	TEXT,
	`same_activities`	TEXT,
	`activities_added`	TEXT,
	`activities_removed`	TEXT,
	`same_services`	TEXT,
	`services_added`	TEXT,
	`services_removed`	TEXT,
	`same_receivers`	TEXT,
	`receivers_added`	TEXT,
	`receivers_removed`	TEXT,
	`same_providers`	TEXT,
	`providers_added`	TEXT,
	`providers_removed`	TEXT
);

In the code file 'andro_compare.py', change the path variables to the apps to be compared:

# change the paths to the relevant apps to be compared
apk1_path = "./app1.apk"
apk2_path = "./app2.apk"

Its written in Python 2.6 and currently supports Linux only. Moreover it uses the "hurry.filesize" module. So, install it using the following command

pip install hurry.filesize

You can use DB Browser for SQLite to view the database.

This tool is for research purposes only.

If you use this tool for your research, then kindly cite it. Click the above badge for more information regarding the complete citation for this tool and diffferent citation formats like IEEE, APA etc.

Stuck with some problem? Need help in solution development, guidance, training or capacity building? I am a Full Stack Engineer turned Project Manager with years of technical and leadership experience in a diverse range of technologies and domains. Let me know what problem you are facing at [email protected] and we can schedule a consultation meeting to help you get through it.

• Development of Web Applications, Mobile Applications, and Desktop Applications
• Development of Machine Learning/Deep Learning models, and deployment
• Web Scraping, Browser Automation, Python Scripting

If you or your company use any of my projects, like what I’m doing or have benefited from my projects in any way then kindly consider backing my efforts.

For donations, you can follow these simple steps:

1) Free signup at TransferWise using this link: https://transferwise.com/invite/u/harism95. (Signing up through this link will save you from any transcation fee on the donation)

2) Select the amount e.g (15$) and choose the receiving/recipient's currency to be PKR. It supports multiple payment options (credit card, debit card, wire transfer etc)

3) Then it will show my info as the recipient, select it. If my name isn't shown, then type my email [email protected] in recipients.

4) Choose the reason for transfer to the one that suits you the most (in this case it could be 'General expenses') and in the reference section, you can mention 'Support'

If you face any issue in sending donation then feel free to get in touch with me at [email protected]

Thank you for your contribution!

You can get in touch with us on our LinkedIn profiles:

To stay updated about my latest projects:

To stay updated about my latest projects:

If you liked the repo then kindly support it by giving it a star ⭐ and share in your circles so more people can benefit from the effort.

If you find any bug in the code or have any improvements in mind then feel free to generate a pull request.

If you face any issue, you can create a new issue in the Issues Tab and I will be glad to help you out.

Copyright (c) 2018-present, harismuneer, hussamh10