Generate Apk file from aab file (android app bundle)

So far nobody has provided the solution to get the APK from an AAB.

This solution will generate a universal binary as an apk.

1. Add --mode=universal to your bundletool command (if you need a signed app, use the --ks parameters as required).

   bundletool build-apks --bundle=/MyApp/my_app.aab --output=/MyApp/my_app.apks
       --mode=universal
   

2. MAIN STEP: Change the output file name from .apks to .zip

3. Unzip and explore

4. The file universal.apk is your app

This universal binary will likely be quite big but is a great solution for sending to the QA department or distributing the App anywhere other than the Google Play store.

Ok here is the complete way I had to do:

1. Download bundletool-all-0.10.3.jar from this link, download the latest version available

2. Create an app bundle using android studio and locate its path:

   In my case its E:\Projects\Android\Temp\app\build\outputs\bundle\debug\app.aab

3. Copy the bundletools jar to some location and get its path

In my case its E:\Temp\bundletool-all-0.6.0.jar

Use this command:

java -jar "BUNDLE_TOOL_JAR_PATH" build-apks --bundle="BUNDLE_PATH" --output=YOUR_OUTPUT_NAME.apks

In my case it will be

    java -jar "E:\Temp\bundletool-all-0.6.0.jar" build-apks \
        --bundle="E:\Projects\Android\Temp\app\build\outputs\bundle\debug\app.aab" \
        --output=out_bundle_archive_set.apks

4. This will create a file out_bundle_archive_set.apks , rename it to .zip out_bundle_archive_set.zip , extract this file and done You will have multiple apk files

To install directly on external device use :

java -jar "E:\Temp\bundletool-all-0.6.0.jar" install-apks --apks=out_bundle_archive_set.apks

Check this blog post for more info . also check out official site

By default, the IDE does not use app bundles to deploy your app to a local device for testing

Refer bundletool command

For Debug apk command,

bundletool build-apks --bundle=/MyApp/my_app.aab --output=/MyApp/my_app.apks

For Release apk command,

bundletool build-apks --bundle=/MyApp/my_app.aab --output=/MyApp/my_app.apks
--ks=/MyApp/keystore.jks
--ks-pass=file:/MyApp/keystore.pwd
--ks-key-alias=MyKeyAlias
--key-pass=file:/MyApp/key.pwd

Edit:

I have been using following commands while testing my release build for aab(I hope it helps others too):

1. Download bundletool jar file from Github Repository (Latest release > Assets > bundletool-all-version.jar file). Rename that file to bundletool.jar

2. Generate your aab file from Android Studio eg: myapp-release.aab

3. Run following command:

   java -jar "path/to/bundletool.jar" build-apks --bundle=myapp-release.aab --output=myapp.apks --ks="/path/to/myapp-release.keystore" --ks-pass=pass:myapp-keystore-pass --ks-key-alias=myapp-alias --key-pass=pass:myapp-alias-pass
   

4. myapp.apks file will be generated

5. Make sure your device is connected to your machine

6. Now run following command to install it on your device:

   java -jar "path/to/bundletool.jar" install-apks --apks=myapp.apks
   

Edit 2:

If you need to extract a single .apk file from the .aab file, you can add a extra param --mode=universal to the bundletool command:

bundletool build-apks --bundle=/MyApp/my_app.aab --output=/MyApp/my_app.apks \
    --mode=universal \
    --ks=/MyApp/keystore.jks \
    --ks-pass=file:/MyApp/keystore.pwd \
    --ks-key-alias=MyKeyAlias \
    --key-pass=file:/MyApp/key.pwd

and execute

unzip -p /MyApp/my_app.apks universal.apk > /MyApp/my_app.apk

this will generate a single a /MyApp/my_app.apk file that can be shared an installed by any device app installer