Sony Updates Its App Analyzation Tool ‘AppXplore’

I you’re a developer looking for an app to help with the quality assurance process (or for checking out your competitors’ apps), then yo...

I you’re a developer looking for an app to help with the quality assurance process (or for checking out your competitors’ apps), then you might be interested in Sony’s free app analysis tool called AppXplore. It’s a simple app, but it provides an incredible amount of useful data about each and every app.

Main View

When you launch the app, you get a nice list of each application currently installed. Opening the menu reveals a few useful operations you can perform to more easily find the app you’re looking for — namely you can search your app via keyword or use one of the built-in filter lists to re-populate the app list using specific criteria. And starting today, you can use new filters that account for features introduced in Android 6.0 Marshmallow (auto backup and permissions).

List of Installed Packages

List of Apps defined as Backup Agent

Apps using 6.0 Auto-Backup

Apps using “Dangerous” Permissions

Apps with Non-Granted Permissions

Apps Targeting SDK < 23

Package Details

Once you’ve found the application you’re looking to analyze in more detail, you can simply tap on the app to bring up its Package Details. In this view, you can see the package name, version number, a list of shared/native libraries, target SDK version, permissions, and more. In addition, if you pull up the menu you’re able to see the resources used by the application in great detail. All of the information you bring up can easily be saved directly onto your device or shared  via email or text message. For regular users, the highlighted “dangerous” permissions could prove useful if you’re looking to restrict permissions to protect your sensitive personal data.

Basic Package Details

Permissions List

Features List

Summary of App Resources

Detailed View of Resources Used

Most regular users won’t find much use out of this app, but if you’re a developer wanting to ensure your own app is being built properly then AppXplore provides a method to quickly look at your app’s details without diving into the cumbersome manifest files.

Do you find these kind of applications useful? Let us know how you use them below!