How to extract contents from a .ipa file (2018)

Question

Most information found online stated that this could be done with unzip(1), but unfortunately it is not the case anymore, .ipa file format has changed, with unzip -v xyz.ipa:

 Length   Method    Size  Cmpr    Date    Time   CRC-32   Name
--------  ------  ------- ---- ---------- ----- --------  ----
       0  Stored        0   0% 09-18-2018 15:38 00000000  META-INF/
     379  Unk:099     367   3% 09-19-2018 08:44 bf0c5de5  META-INF/com.apple.ZipMetadata.plist
      23  Stored       23   0% 09-19-2018 08:44 132aa79c  META-INF/com.apple.FixedZipMetadata.bin
       0  Stored        0   0% 09-18-2018 15:36 00000000  Payload/
       0  Stored        0   0% 09-19-2018 23:44 00000000  Payload/xyz.app/
       0  Stored        0   0% 09-18-2018 15:36 00000000  Payload/xyz.app/_CodeSignature/
  358128  Unk:099   84505  76% 09-19-2018 23:44 7f51c7bf  Payload/xyz.app/_CodeSignature/CodeResources
   10131  Unk:099    2190  78% 09-18-2018 15:36 90a256db  Payload/xyz.app/Info.plist

for those files with compress method 099, can not be extracted, I guess they are encrypted or encoded with a specifically designed compress method.

the .ipa file is grabbed from app store, you could obtain it via filebin.

How could I get the .ipa file extracted?

Answer 1

Exporting ipa packages in 2021

1. Go to the Mac App Store, search for Apple Configurator 2 and download and install it.

2. Connect your iPhone to your Mac, click on Apple Configurator 2, click on the top menu bar ->Account->Login, and enter your iPhone login Apple ID.

3. Click Action->Add->Apps... and select the app to download.(Before this step, you must have entered the details window of your iphone and make sure you have the app installed in your iPhone App Store.)

4. When the download is complete, a prompt will appear, do not click the button on the pop-up box at this time.

5. Open Finder, Use the shortcut command+shift+G and type the following path.

~/Library/Group Containers/K36BKF7T3D.group.com.apple.configurator/Library/Caches/Assets/TemporaryItems/MobileApps/

You can see the package we need, make sure to copy the installation package out at this time. This is the package we need to install.

6. Then change the .ipa file extension to .zip, and double-click to unzip it.