classes.dex file does't contain my java classes

Question

I have developed an app in android studio and test it in my phone. I have formatted my computer and forgot to save my project to somewhere. Now i want to get my source codes back. I get the APK file from my phone (either by using adb and some other tools).

I am using dex2jar and decompile my classes.dex file but it does not show my own Java classes. Is it possible to get them back?

Even if you got your classses and decompiled them, they would be a mostly unreadable, and definitely unmaintainable mess. — Carcigenicate, Oct 10 '16 at 17:57
why do you need that.? dex files are dalvik files ONLY required by the Dalvik or JVM — ΦXocę 웃 Пepeúpa ツ, Oct 10 '16 at 17:59
The only thing I want is to get back my classes which I have written in the project. I dont want to write them again. I only have my own application in my phone and I can pul the apk file. I just need to obtain my classes from this apk file — parliament, Oct 11 '16 at 06:31

Amir Ziarati · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-10T18:06:06.933

1

You can decompile it so easily a great tutorial below:

https://futurestud.io/tutorials/how-to-decompile-an-android-app-apk

4 easy steps as below:

1- unzip you apk like you unzip any zip file

2-find classes.dex files

3-convert them to jar file using dexToJar tool

4- open the jar file using JD-Gui application (availbale for windows/ubuntu/mac)

edited Oct 10 '16 at 18:06

answered Oct 10 '16 at 18:00

Amir Ziarati

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I did excatly what u sad step by step. However, in JD-Gui there are just a few classes which are not mine – parliament Oct 11 '16 at 06:21
Did you progaurd your apk ? Before releasing ? – Amir Ziarati Oct 11 '16 at 06:37
I have decompiled a project containing 50 000 lines of code using this tool. Its a pieace of cake. Upload what you get in jdgui in your question ;) ill help you – Amir Ziarati Oct 11 '16 at 10:54
ok I will upload it at evening. I m now working. Thank u very much btw.. – parliament Oct 11 '16 at 11:15
I have uploaded what I see in jdgui. There are 2 packages and some classes. Non of them belong to me. I can send you the apk file if u can help me.. Thank you very much – parliament Oct 11 '16 at 18:42
What is the link of your application in google store ? Im eager to test it. – Amir Ziarati Oct 11 '16 at 21:18
i didn't put it in google strore. As I sad it s my own application and i have tested it just on my phone. I can share you with google drive or dropbox somethng else – parliament Oct 11 '16 at 22:28
Can you send me the apk ? Ill test for you . – Amir Ziarati Oct 12 '16 at 07:32
thank u very much. I ll appreciate it. I can email it to you. Can you send me an emoty email pls. This is my email ibrahimsalgin@gmail.com – parliament Oct 12 '16 at 09:29

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '16 at 18:02

This is usually done by some obfuscator, such as Proguard. This means, among other things, that the class names of your classes will be changed into meaningless names (such as A/B/C) the names will still be different in the fully qualified path of a java class, e.g. you might have multiple ""A" classes in different packages, but other than that you will have those class names multiple times. In most cases it will not harm te functionality of your program, but it will make it harder to reverse-engineer.

If this is your app and you can rebuild it, you can disable ProGuard or a subset of its features, otherwise you will need to reverse engineer it on your own.

classes.dex file does't contain my java classes

2 Answers2