PlaystoreDownloader

A command line tool to download Android applications directly from the Google
Play Store.

PlaystoreDownloader is a tool for downloading Android applications directly from
the Google Play Store. After an initial (one-time) configuration, applications can be
downloaded by specifying their package name.

This project is intended for learning purposes only and is not affiliated with Google
in any way.

❱ Demo

Command Line Interface

Web Interface

❱ Installation

There are two ways of getting a working copy of PlaystoreDownloader on your own
computer: either by using Docker or by
using directly the source code in a Python 3 environment. In both
cases, the first thing to do is to get a local copy of this repository, so open up a
terminal in the directory where you want to save the project and clone the repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/ClaudiuGeorgiu/PlaystoreDownloader.git

Docker image

---

Prerequisites

This is the suggested way of installing PlaystoreDownloader, since the only requirement
is to have a recent version of Docker installed:

$ docker --version             
Docker version 20.10.7, build f0df350

Official Docker Hub image

The official PlaystoreDownloader Docker image
is available on Docker Hub (automatically built from this repository):

$ # Download the Docker image.
$ docker pull claudiugeorgiu/playstore-downloader
$ # Give it a shorter name.
$ docker tag claudiugeorgiu/playstore-downloader downloader

Install

If you downloaded the official image from Docker Hub, you are ready to use the tool so
go ahead and check the usage instructions, otherwise execute the
following command in the previously created PlaystoreDownloader/ directory (the folder
containing the Dockerfile) in order to build the Docker image:

$ # Make sure to run the command in PlaystoreDownloader/ directory.
$ # It will take some time to download and install all the dependencies.
$ docker build -t downloader .

When the Docker image is ready, make a quick test to check that everything was
installed correctly:

$ docker run --rm -it downloader --help
usage: python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli [-h] [-b] [-s] [-c FILE] [-o DIR] [-t TAG] package [package ...]
...

PlaystoreDownloader is now ready to be used, see the usage instructions
for more information.

From source

---

Prerequisites

Apart from valid Google Play Store credentials, the only requirement of this project is
a working Python 3 (at least 3.7) installation and
pipenv (for dependency management).

Install

Run the following commands in the main directory of the project (PlaystoreDownloader/)
to install the needed dependencies:

$ # Make sure to run the commands in PlaystoreDownloader/ directory.

$ # This project uses pipenv (https://github.com/pypa/pipenv) for dependency management.
$ # It can be installed with the following command:
$ # python3 -m pip install pipenv

$ # Install PlaystoreDownloader's requirements (a virtual environment will be created).
$ pipenv install --deploy

After everything is installed, make a quick test to check that everything works
correctly:

$ pipenv run python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli --help
usage: python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli [-h] [-b] [-s] [-c FILE] [-o DIR] [-t TAG] package [package ...]
...

PlaystoreDownloader is now ready to be used, see the usage instructions
for more information.

❱ Configuration

Before interacting with the Google Play Store you have to provide valid credentials
and an ANDROID ID associated to your account. Please modify the
credentials.json
file and insert the required information before trying to use this tool (and think
twice before committing this file after the change, or you might leak your credentials):

• Enter your Google email and password in the USERNAME and PASSWORD fields of the
  credentials.json
  file. This information is needed to authenticate with Google’s servers. In case you have
  2-Step Verification activated, you will need to generate an
  App Password
  for the PASSWORD field.

• Use the above credentials on an Android device (real or emulated) and download at
  least one application using the official Google Play Store on the device. This step is
  necessary in order to associate the ANDROID ID of the device to your account, so
  that you will be able to download applications as if you were directly using your device.
  Do not remove the account from the device or its ANDROID ID won’t be valid anymore.

• Get the
  ANDROID ID
  of the device and fill the ANDROID_ID field of the
  credentials.json
  file. You can obtain the ANDROID ID by installing the
  Device ID
  application on your device, then copy the string corresponding to
  Google Service Framework (GSF) (use this string instead of the Android Device ID
  presented by the application).

• In case of errors related to the authentication after the above steps, consider the
  following actions (visit the links while you are logged in with the account used to
  download the applications):

  • allow less secure apps to access your account (https://myaccount.google.com/lesssecureapps)

  • temporarily unlock access to your account (https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha)

Note that you will be able to download only the applications compatible with the device
corresponding to the aforementioned ANDROID ID and further limitations may influence
the total number of applications available for download.

❱ Usage

After configuring the Google Play Store credentials as described in the
configuration, you should have a valid credentials.json file ready
to be used. The usage instructions depend on how you installed the tool.

With Docker

The file with the credentials is not included in the Docker image, so it has to be
mounted into the container. A download directory has to be mounted too, otherwise the
downloaded application won’t be accessible to the host machine. If the current
directory (${PWD}) contains the credentials.json file and an output/ folder, the
command to download an application with package name com.application.example becomes:

$ docker run \
    -u $(id -u):$(id -g) \
    -v "${PWD}/credentials.json":"/app/credentials.json" \
    -v "${PWD}/output/":"/app/Downloads/" \
    --rm -it downloader "com.application.example"

If the download is successful, the resulting .apk file will be saved in the output/
folder contained in the directory where the command was run (type
$ docker run --rm -it downloader --help or check the
available parameters for more information).

A simple web interface is also available:

$ docker run \
    -u $(id -u):$(id -g) \
    -v "${PWD}/credentials.json":"/app/credentials.json" \
    -v "${PWD}/output/":"/app/Downloads/" \
    -p 5000:5000 \
    --entrypoint=python3 \
    --rm -it downloader flask_app.py

$ # Navigate to http://localhost:5000/ to use the web interface.

With source

In the main directory of the project (PlaystoreDownloader/), call the following
instruction using the package name of the app to be downloaded:

$ pipenv run python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli "com.application.example"

If the download is successful, by default the resulting .apk file will be saved in
the PlaystoreDownloader/Downloads/ directory. You can change the location of the
download directory by providing an additional -o "path/to/download/folder/"
argument (type $ pipenv run python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli --help or check the
available parameters for more information).

A simple web interface is also available:

$ pipenv run python3 flask_app.py

$ # Navigate to http://localhost:5000/ to use the web interface.

Available parameters

All the parameters are described in the help message:

$ # With Docker.
$ docker run --rm -it downloader --help

$ # With source.
$ pipenv run python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli --help

usage: python3 -m playstoredownloader.cli [-h] [-b] [-s] [-c FILE] [-o DIR] [-t TAG] package [package ...]
...

The only mandatory parameter is the package name of the application to be downloaded,
as it appears in the Google Play Store (e.g., com.spotify.music or com.whatsapp).
The other optional arguments are as follows:

• -b is a flag for downloading the additional .obb files along with the application
  (if there are any). See
  Expansion Files
  for more information. The additional files will be saved in the same directory as the
  downloaded application. Note:
  expansion files will no longer be supported for new apps.

• -s is a flag for downloading the additional split .apk files along with the
  application (if there are any). See
  Dynamic Delivery
  for more information. The additional files will be saved in the same directory as the
  downloaded application.

• -c CREDENTIALS is used to set the path to the JSON configuration file containing
  the Google Play Store credentials. If not specified, by default the tool will try to
  use a file named credentials.json located in the directory where the command is run.

• -o DIR is used to set the path (relative or absolute) of the directory where to
  save the downloaded .apk file (e.g., -o /home/user/Desktop/). If the path contains
  missing directories, they will be created automatically. If not specified, by default
  the file will be saved in a Downloads/ directory created where the tool is run.

• -t TAG can be used to set a tag that will be prepended to the file name, e.g.,
  by using -t "LABEL" the final name of the downloaded application will look like
  [LABEL] filename.apk. Note: the tag is applied to the main application and to the
  additional files (if any).

Note that currently only the command line interface is configurable with the above
arguments, the web interface will ask only for a package name and will use the default
values for all the other parameters.

❱ License

You are free to use this code under the
MIT License.