modifying an IPA file and then installing it with iTunes, is it possible?

Extraction and unpacking of game archives and compression, encryption, obfuscation, decoding of unknown files
verticalD
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 10:35 am

modifying an IPA file and then installing it with iTunes, is it possible?

Post by verticalD »

sorry if I'm posting in the wrong section.
lets say i've already extracted the assets of a .ipa file by changing its extension to .zip
now I try to change some of the assets of the app by replacing them with custom assets with the exact same name and then repackage the whole thing to .zip again
but now if I change the extension back to ipa it wont work, because ipa files have a different structure than zip files. so obviously if I just put it in the same folder it came from and attempt to install it with itunes, iTunes recognizes it but doesn't install it properly.
the question is, is there a tool that reads the original ipa file's binary and the content of the modified zip and tries to make a copy of the ipa file's structure with the zip file's content? keep in mind I'm not trying to change anything in the code, i just wanna change some of the assets that the code is linked to, like images, sounds, etc
if there isn't, what do you think? will it work if I try to make one?
Last edited by verticalD on Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:38 am, edited 2 times in total.
hackspeedok
Posts: 404
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2014 6:41 pm

Re: modifying an IPA file and then installing it with iTunes, is it possible?

Post by hackspeedok »

Only one way to install the modified IPA file that is using Impactor for Non-Jailbreak devices.
verticalD
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 10:35 am

Re: modifying an IPA file and then installing it with iTunes, is it possible?

Post by verticalD »

hackspeedok wrote:Only one way to install the modified IPA file that is using Impactor for Non-Jailbreak devices.

but impactor is for resigning the IPA, what if we restore everything from the original signed IPA and make a copy of it but only this time containing the modified content instead of the original content in the archive? like a byte by byte copy, if this works the downfall of it will be that every user that wants to use the mod has to go through all the process of unpacking, replacing and repacking by themselves
hackspeedok
Posts: 404
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2014 6:41 pm

Re: modifying an IPA file and then installing it with iTunes, is it possible?

Post by hackspeedok »

verticalD wrote:
hackspeedok wrote:Only one way to install the modified IPA file that is using Impactor for Non-Jailbreak devices.

but impactor is for resigning the IPA, what if we restore everything from the original signed IPA and make a copy of it but only this time containing the modified content instead of the original content in the archive? like a byte by byte copy, if this works the downfall of it will be that every user that wants to use the mod has to go through all the process of unpacking, replacing and repacking by themselves

Sorry, I dont understand what you are trying to say. I've been modifying many ipa files and I understand that you also want to make a mod for an ios game or application. You just need to open the ipa file with the 7zip software and replace the files inside with the edited files. Then you can use Impactor to install for non-jb devices.
verticalD
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 10:35 am

Re: modifying an IPA file and then installing it with iTunes, is it possible?

Post by verticalD »

hackspeedok wrote:
verticalD wrote:
hackspeedok wrote:Only one way to install the modified IPA file that is using Impactor for Non-Jailbreak devices.

but impactor is for resigning the IPA, what if we restore everything from the original signed IPA and make a copy of it but only this time containing the modified content instead of the original content in the archive? like a byte by byte copy, if this works the downfall of it will be that every user that wants to use the mod has to go through all the process of unpacking, replacing and repacking by themselves

Sorry, I dont understand what you are trying to say. I've been modifying many ipa files and I understand that you also want to make a mod for an ios game or application. You just need to open the ipa file with the 7zip software and replace the files inside with the edited files. Then you can use Impactor to install for non-jb devices.

Sorry I wasn't clear enough, this is what I'm trying to say
Image
this is a simplified version of the idea,Im wondering if we can use the original file's structure to make a new copy out of it using our modified file's package content.