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Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux)

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Tutorial: 
How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux)

Background:
 Oddly, Android itself doesn't have a way to install split APKs, which, 
 if you don't know, is what Google is basically moving every developer to.

 So, while you can install split APKs on Android using special tools such 
 as SAI or Muntashirakon, you can also install split APKs using the PC adb.

 It would be no surprise to anyone that my Samsung Android 13 is heavily
 degoogled, so I can't use the Google Play Store app to install APKs but
 that's not an issue because I use an open source Google Play store app.

 However... 

 Google is playing whackamole with replacement Google Play Store apps.
 In Google's SDKs, which developers incorporate into their apps, is 
 increasingly, a new check for which app installed the split APKs.

 It's binary now.

 Either the app was installed by the Google Play Store app itself.
 Or it wasn't.

 If it wasn't installed literally by the Google Play Store app, then it
 fails to open, unless you log into a Google Play Store account, which, 
 if you're degoogled, isn't something you'd ever want to do voluntarily.

 So how do you get around it?

 Particularly on a modern USA Samsung, which, let's just say, is a bitch.
  a. You can't root most (all?) modern USA Samsung's 
  b. Samsung adds even more protection than any other OEM does
  c. And Android 12+ adds even more protections fighting you all the time

 Well... what do you do?
 Dunno... but what I did, was this (and it worked perfectly!)
  a. I installed the split APKs
  b. But I spoofed that the installer was the official Google Play Store app

This worked using both the phone & the PC to install split spoofed APKs:
1. I installed the Fluffy File Manager <app.fluffy> using Aurora
   <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.fluffy>
2. Unfortunately, Aurora wouldn't save the APKs 
   (as Aurora's cache was empty right away)
3. So I used Muntashirakon App Manager to save the split APK to
    /storage/AppManager/apks/Fluffy_4.1.8.apks 
4. I then deleted the app <app.fluffy> on the Samsung
5. I copied Fluffy_4.1.8.apks on the phone to Fluffy_4.1.8.zip on the PC 
6. I extracted the split APKs on the PC & ran this spoofing command
7. I sideload the apks using a spoofed origin label
   adb.exe install-multiple -i com.android.vending base.apk split_config.arm64_v8a.apk split_config.xhdpi.apk split_config.es.apk

Voila!
The Play Integrity/LVL check passed because the app recognizes 
com.android.vending as the installerPackageName.

This is mainly needed on Samsung, as other brands aren't as locked down.

On other brands, you can disable the Play Integrity / LVL license provider 
to prevent the app from checking Google Play licensing because on AOSP 
(Pixel, LineageOS, GrapheneOS), the shell user can disable components.

But, that won't work on USA unrootable degoogled Samsung. 
 adb shell pm disable app.fluffy /com.pairip.licensecheck.LicenseContentProvider
 Exception occurred while executing 'disable':
 ... SecurityException: Shell cannot change component state

Because, on Samsung stock ROMs, with the Samsung security policy intact, 
the shell user is NOT allowed to disable components of third-party apps.

Since I can't neutralize it from outside the shell, there is also LSPatch 
which performs DEX patching inside the app, which I may try later. 

Also, supposedly Muntashirakon App Manager can perform installer-source 
spoofing to set it to com.android.vending, but it failed on my Samsung.

Running the second test, I kept all the files on the phone at all times.
This completely uses the PC to install, spoof & test the split APK commit!

1. Install Ultimate File Manager Pro using Aurora 
   <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager>
2. Again, unfortunately, Aurora wouldn't save the APKs 
   (as Aurora's cache was empty right away)
3. So I used Muntashirakon to save it to /storage/AppManager/apks/
4. Identify the exported .apks archive and the filesystem location  
   adb shell ls /storage/emulated/0/AppManager/apks/Ultimate*.apks
    /storage/emulated/0/AppManager/apks/Ultimate File Manager Pro_125.0-GOOGLE.apks
5. Query the system for the active split APK installation paths  
    adb shell pm path za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager
     package:/data/app/~~d-kNYBZ6N_XaNUkK7Yo0Jg==/za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager-gpxHZM4K-ZfKfSdELCUF7g==/base.apk
     package:/data/app/~~d-kNYBZ6N_XaNUkK7Yo0Jg==/za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager-gpxHZM4K-ZfKfSdELCUF7g==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk
     package:/data/app/~~d-kNYBZ6N_XaNUkK7Yo0Jg==/za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager-gpxHZM4K-ZfKfSdELCUF7g==/split_config.xhdpi.apk
6. Extract or copy the split APK components into a temporary workspace  
   adb shell cp /data/app/~~d-kNYBZ6N_XaNUkK7Yo0Jg==/za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager-gpxHZM4K-ZfKfSdELCUF7g==/base.apk /data/local/tmp/base.apk
   adb shell cp /data/app/~~d-kNYBZ6N_XaNUkK7Yo0Jg==/za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager-gpxHZM4K-ZfKfSdELCUF7g==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk /data/local/tmp/arch.apk
   adb shell cp /data/app/~~d-kNYBZ6N_XaNUkK7Yo0Jg==/za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager-gpxHZM4K-ZfKfSdELCUF7g==/split_config.xhdpi.apk /data/local/tmp/gfx.apk
   Or, just unzip the split APKs into that temporary archive.
   adb shell unzip /storage/emulated/0/AppManager/apks/Ultimate*.apks -d /data/local/tmp/
    Archive:  /storage/emulated/0/AppManager/apks/Ultimate File Manager Pro_125.0-GOOGLE.apks
     inflating: /data/local/tmp/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk
     inflating: /data/local/tmp/split_config.xhdpi.apk
     inflating: /data/local/tmp/base.apk
     inflating: /data/local/tmp/icon.png
     inflating: /data/local/tmp/info.json
7. Remove the currently installed application instance  
   adb shell pm uninstall za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager
8. Create a new package installation session with explicit installer attribution 
   adb.exe shell pm install-create -i com.android.vending
    Success: created install session [1525310504]
9. Stream split APK components into the session and finalize installation
   adb shell pm install-write 12978356 base.apk /data/local/tmp/base.apk
    Success: streamed 30927780 bytes
   adb shell pm install-write 12978356 arch.apk /data/local/tmp/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk
    Success: streamed 57566 bytes
   adb shell pm install-write 12978356 gfx.apk /data/local/tmp/split_config.xhdpi.apk
    Success: streamed 129396 bytes
   adb shell pm install-commit 12978356
    Success
10. Verify installer attribution metadata  
    adb shell dumpsys package za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager | findstr /i "installerPackageName"
     installerPackageName=com.android.vending
11. Perform a basic launch test to confirm runtime behavior  
    adb shell monkey -p za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1
12.Remove temporary artifacts from the device  
    adb shell rm /data/local/tmp/base.apk /data/local/tmp/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk /data/local/tmp/split_config.xhdpi.apk /data/local/tmp/icon.png /data/local/tmp/info.json
-- 
Almost never is there a problem on a computer that we can't solve ourselves.
		

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Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-05-08 01:32 -0600
  Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-05-08 12:35 -0600
  Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-08 20:57 +0000
    Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-05-08 18:14 -0600
      Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-05-09 00:55 -0400
        Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-05-09 00:28 -0600
          Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-05-09 01:24 -0600
            Re: Tutorial: How to install split spoofed APKs on Android using only your PC (Windows or Linux) Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-05-09 08:37 -0400

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