Generate APK File from Aab File (Android App Bundle)

Generate Apk file from aab file (android app bundle)

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

Uploading AAB Bundle to AppCenter downloads an APK File?

The Android OS can only install APKs. If you upload Android App Bundles to the Google Play Store, the Play Store then generates optimized APKs for your end users.

Microsoft's App Center on the other hand generates an unoptimized universal APK.

"When you distribute Android Application Bundle (AAB), App Center generates a universal APK, signs it with a generated signing key, and distributes it to a device."

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/appcenter/distribution/uploading

How to generate an APK (NOT APKS ) from AAB using bundletool?

I think that the best option is to use Internal App Sharing that allows to test easily your App Bundles and APKs, including debug builds:

With internal app sharing, you can quickly share an app bundle or APK with your internal team and testers by uploading an APK or app bundle on the internal app sharing upload page.

If you want to go the bundletool route, you need to generate an universal apk. Take a look at this answer on how to do it.

Generating a standalone apk from a bundle file (app.aab)

The standalone APKs are only generated if minSdkVersion < 21.

If you want a universal APK, you can use --mode=universal which will build a single APK that contains everything. As documented below https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/bundletool

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