VInstall

A minimal Android application for installing APK, XAPK, APKS, APKM, APKV, and ZIP packages, with a built-in app manager, backup, and uninstaller.

Features

Package Installation

Supports six package formats:

Format	Description
APK	Standard Android package
XAPK	APK with OBB expansion data or split APKs bundle
APKS	Split APKs archive (SAI format)
APKM	Split APKs archive (APKMirror format)
APKV	Encrypted or plain split APKs archive (custom format, see APKV spec)
ZIP	Generic ZIP archive containing APK split files

For split APK formats (XAPK, APKS, APKM, APKV, ZIP), individual splits can be selected or deselected before installation. APKM files marked as DRM-protected are rejected automatically. APKV files support optional password-based encryption and integrity verification via SHA-256 checksums.

Install Modes

Three installation modes are available:

• Normal — uses the standard Android package installer
• Root — installs silently using root access
• Shizuku — installs silently via the Shizuku service without requiring full root

App Manager

Browse all installed user apps with the ability to:

• View app details: version, SDK range, install and update dates, APK size, data directory, split count, and requested permissions
• Launch or open the system app info page
• Export the app as an .apkv archive
• Uninstall the app (supports Normal, Root, and Shizuku modes)
• Compute and copy the APK hash (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256)

Backup

Export any installed user app as an .apkv archive directly from the App Manager or the dedicated Backup screen. Backups are saved to Documents/VInstall/Backups/ on external storage. Optional password-based encryption is supported when exporting.

Settings

Setting	Description
Install mode	Normal, Root, or Shizuku
Theme	Light, Dark, or follow system
Confirm before install	Show a confirmation dialog before installing
Clear cache after install	Automatically remove temp files after installation
Debug window	Show or hide the in-app log viewer

Requirements

• Android 5.0 (API 21) or higher
• "Install unknown apps" permission granted for this app
• "All Files Access" permission required for XAPK packages that include OBB data and for writing backups to external storage (Android 11+)
• Root access required when using Root mode
• Shizuku installed and running when using Shizuku mode

Building

Debug

./gradlew assembleDebug

Release

Using GitHub Actions (CI)

Before triggering a release build, create a keystore and configure the following secrets in your GitHub repository settings:

Secret	Description
KEYSTORE_BASE64	Base64-encoded .jks keystore file
STORE_PASSWORD	Keystore password
KEY_ALIAS	Key alias
KEY_PASSWORD	Key password

Then push a tag prefixed with v to trigger the release workflow:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

The signed release APK will be automatically attached to the corresponding GitHub Release.

Using a Local Keystore

Alternatively, you can build a signed release APK locally by adding the following properties to your local.properties file:

STORE_FILE=/absolute/path/to/your/keystore.jks
STORE_PASSWORD=your_store_password
KEY_ALIAS=your_key_alias
KEY_PASSWORD=your_key_password

Then run:

./gradlew assembleRelease

Gradle Wrapper

The gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar file is included in the repository. However, if you want to generate the file again, just type:

gradle wrapper --gradle-version=9.4.1

APKV Format

VInstall introduces APKV, a custom container format for archiving and distributing Android application packages. It supports plain and password-encrypted payloads, embeds an application icon, includes integrity checksums per APK file, and includes a structured JSON manifest. The full specification is available in the APKV spec and apkv-cli.

License

Licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

Credits

This project uses the following open-source libraries:

Library	Author	License	Notes
AndroidX	Google	Apache 2.0
Material Components for Android	Google	Apache 2.0
Kotlin Coroutines	JetBrains	Apache 2.0
Gson	Google	Apache 2.0
Shizuku	RikkaApps	Apache 2.0
Bouncy Castle	The Legion of the Bouncy Castle	MIT-style	Removed in v0.4.2-hotfix2

Author

Developed by AlwizBA/VInstall