How to compare 2 APK files

APK comparison screen

Comparing 2 APKs can be a useful feature for some people who want to know the component changes between those files. In this post, I will show you how to compare 2 APK files on your Android device using My APK.

APK comparison is not a new feature of My APK but it has been updated recently to support more compare modes and information. My APK supports below data type for comparing.

• App icon
• App name/Source path
• Version code/name
• File size
• Build type (Debug/Release)
• Min SDK
• Target SDK
• Checksum (MD5/SHA-1/SHA-256)
• Package name (if 2 APKs are from different App)
• Permission
• Activity
• Broadcast Receiver
• Service
• Content Provider
• Meta data
• Application Flags
• Signature

Compare APK to APP

An APK can be compared to an APP if that version of APK is actually an older or newer or the same version of that APP. Let say you installed My APK 2.6.9 from the Play Store, then you get My APK 2.7.0 from other 3rd sources, you want to see if the newer version (2.7.0) has any changes in the Android components or Manifest meta data,... Here is how you do it on My APK.

• Open My APK and select apks tab.
• Select your new My APK 2.7.0 item in the list
• Click the Compare icon (⮀) at the top (or click Menu and choose Compare to installed version.(*)
• The comparison screen will display all of the compare data and highlight the changes.

From the video above, you can see that the newer version has a different signature, some components are removed. That version is clearly modified by someone else and it is not signed by Andatsoft.

I would recommend that you should not install that version to keep your device safe from malwares.

(*) The Compare icon (⮀) and Compare to installed version option only appear for items with status version is either INSTALLED or OLD VERSION or NEW VERSION.

Compare APK to APK

With recent versions of My APK, you can compare 2 different APKs, these APKs can be from the same application or different applications. Follow the below steps to start comparing.

• Open My APK and select apks tab.
• Hold an item to enter multiple selection mode then select 2 files to compare.
• Click on the Option menu and choose Compare (*)
• The comparison screen will display all of the compare data and highlight the changes.

(*) This Compare option is visible only if the selected items count is 2.

You can find more information about My APK here.