Compile/Decompile Apk and Jar files for Android Smartphones

Everyone who has an Android smartphone sometimes thinks what if i could change this ? What would it look like if it was black or red ???
I am going to post a tutorial on how you can decompile an .Apk or .Jar file from your phone in order to access the source code, edit it how you want and then recompile it.
Firstly, the tool we will use is Apktool and its homepage is here.
Download from the right side bar the appropriate files for your system:

apktool-install-linux-2.2_r01-1.tar.bz2 – LINUX
apktool-install-macosx-2.2_r01-1.tar.bz2 – MAC OSX
apktool-install-windows-2.2_r01-3.tar.bz2 – WINDOWS
apktool1.3.2.tar.bz2 – ALL SYSTEMS
When you have the necessary files extract them all into the same directory. You should have 3 files:
1) aapt
2) apktool.(OS extension and nothing for linux)
3) apktool.jar

Instructions

Decompile/Decode an apk/jar file
1) place apk/jar in the directory with the files above
2) open cmd
3) run apktool.bat d services.jar ./out
4) an out directory will be created where all the source files are located
Now you can change whatever you like to edit.
Compile/Build an apk/jar file
1) apktool.bat b -f -d out
2) the apk/jar file will be placed into /out/dist/out.apk
Notes:
- cmd is the Command Prompt in Windows, in LINUX and Mac there is the Terminal
- instead of “apktool.bat” in linux you will just use “apktool”
- the out.apk is the edited apk and the one you should transfer to your phone in place of the old one