I developed this apkmaker project as part of IconEffects, and I am releasing it under Apache License v 2.0. It is a gradle project that contains three modules.

You can include the library modules in your project using jitpack. In your build.gradle file:

repositories {
	...
	maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
}
dependencies {
	//for android_apkmaker.  use more recent release if available
	compile 'com.github.bclinthall.AndroidApkMaker:android_apkmaker:v0.2-beta'
	//for java_apkmaker.  use more recent release if available
	compile 'com.github.bclinthall.AndroidApkMaker:java_apkmaker:v0.2-beta'
}

1. java_apkmaker
   A java application that makes an unsigned android apk. To use it as such, run gradle :java_apkmaker:installDist. The application will be installed at java_apkmaker/build/install/java_apkmaker/ with runnables in java_apkmaker/build/install/java_apkmaker/bin/. See java_apkmaker/src/main/java/com/theaetetuslabs/java_apkmaker/Help.java for an help with using java_apkmaker from the command line. There is a script to run it at java_apkmaker/BuildApk.sh - modify paths as appropriate for your system.

Relies on or includes

• sdklib, copyright The Android Open Source Project, 2010, Apache License v 2.0.
  An extremely pared down version of sdklib is included here in the source.
• ecj, copryright The Eclipse Foundation, 2015, Eclipse Public License Version 1.0.
  Included as a dependency in java_apkmaker/build.gradle.
• dx, copyright The Android Open Source Project, 2006, Apache License v 2.0.
  Included as a dependency in java_apkmaker/build.gradle.
• aapt, copyright The Android Open Source Project, 2006, Apache License v 2.0.
  Included as binary executables. Built from source modified by Tom Arn (https://github.com/t-arn/java-ide-droid/tree/master/jni), and B. Clint Hall (https://github.com/theaetetus/java-ide-droid/tree/master/jni)

2. android_apkmaker
   An android library which relies on java_apkmaker to build an apk To make this work, you need include the android.jar file against which you wish to compile in the assets directory. So, for example, if the apk you wish to build will target android API 21, you need to use the Android SDK manager to download the SDK Platform for API 21. You can then find android.jar in <path-to-sdk>/platforms/android-21/. Copy that file to android_apkmaker/src/main/assets/android.jar.

   Relies on or includes the following jars. All copyright Ken Ellingwood, 2010, licensed under Apache License v 2.0, and included in android_apkmaker/libs.

   • kellinwood-logging-android-1.4.jar
   • zipio-lib-1.8.jar
   • kellinwood-logging-lib-1.1.jar
   • zipsigner-lib-1.17.jar
   • kellinwood-logging-log4j-1.0.jar

3. apkmaker_tester
   A simple android application for testing android_apkmaker. Included in the assests directory of this project is a test.zip file. You may replace it with your own, as you see fit. test.zip should include an AndroidManifest.xml, a res directory, a java directory, and (optionally) an assets directory.

   MainActivity.APP_PACKAGE_NAME should be set to the package name specified in the AndroidManifest.xml in test.zip.