Using the Shielding Tool

To add App Shielding to your application you need

• Java

• The Shielding Tool

• an apk file (app.apk) or an app bundle (app.aab) of your application

• a configuration file (e.g., config.xml)

You can integrate App Shielding into your application by running the following command:

java -jar Shielder.jar --config config.xml [options] app.aab

This produces the following output files:

• shielded-app.apk or shielded-app.aab:

  The protected application.

• mapping.txt

  The name mappings of the Java class name obfuscation that the Shielding Tool tool applied. This is useful for decoding stack traces, so this file should be kept for all distributed app versions. See Using the Shielding Tool with ProGuard or R8 for more information.

Before the protected application can be tested, or deployed, it needs to be signed. The Shielding Tool can do this automatically. See Signing the application for more information.

App Shielding supports both Android App Bundles (.aab) and Android application (.apk) files. The output application file type will match the input application file.
In the following examples we may use one or the other input file type, but the commands are applicable for any type.

For more information on how to use the Shielding Tool, see:

• Configuration

• Command line options