APK Editor Studio vs APK Icon Editor
Why was the new APK editor created and should users move to it? Difference between APK Editor Studio and APK Icon Editor.
February 10, 2019
Introduction
It's been some time since the initial APK Editor Studio release went public. It continues the ideas of its predecessor APK Icon Editor and offers many new options, flexible UI and powerful functions. How exactly is it different from APK Icon Editor and why do we need another APK editor?
Background
Historically, APK Icon Editor was created (as obviously stated in its title) as a simple icon editor. Time passed, people asked for new features such as an ability to change app name, version, Android manifest, TV banners, internal resources, etc. This led to some issues. First of all, the internal codebase was not prepared for functional expansions, so adding new features was becoming more and more cumbersome. The simple by design tool kept growing and losing its initial simplicity. Secondly, the software title was no longer reflecting its original tasks and goals.
The decision was to create another APK editor:
- with a brand new codebase written from scratch;
- with a functionality not limited by a software title or its compact GUI;
- with a much greater potential to grow.
Feature Highlights
APK Editor Studio is very handy both for simple procedures such as Android app icons replacement, and for advanced APK modding with reverse-engineering.
Compared to the APK Icon Editor, it provides the following additional features:
- Ability to work with multiple APK files at the same time.
- Internal APK installer to easily install APK on your device.
- Android Explorer, Permission Editor, and other handy modules.
- Integrated resource viewers and editors (for code, images, etc.).
- Intelligent resource inspector which groups resources by qualifiers.
You can find the full list of features here.
APK Icon Editor Status
There are no plans on suspending APK Icon Editor.
Though many users need a full-featured APK editor, most of them are used to plain old APK Icon Editor and don't need any advanced functions. In this regard, both tools will coexist. At the very least APK Icon Editor will get Apktool updates and major bug fixes.
However, it's definitely a good idea to try the new APK Editor Studio.
Conclusion
- APK Editor Studio will indeed get more feature updates than APK Icon Editor.
- APK Icon Editor is still maintained and will get Apktool updates and major bug fixes.