A free companion plugin from the ADB Pro ecosystem for converting Android App Bundles to APKS, installing APKS on devices, managing bundletool, reading Gradle signing configs, and scanning GitHub or GitLab releases for AAB files.
Android App Bundles are publishing artifacts, not files that can be installed directly like APKs. For local testing, developers usually need bundletool, a signing configuration, an APKS output file, a connected device, and an install command that matches the device configuration. AAB Tools turns that command-line chain into a focused JetBrains IDE workflow.
The plugin is intentionally free and focused. It solves the common AAB conversion and installation loop for individual Android developers, QA testers, and small projects that do not need the full ADB Pro release workflow yet. When the workflow grows into signing verification, release checks, R8, resource obfuscation, CI/CD, and dependency health, ADB Pro is the main upgrade path.
Run bundletool build-apks from the IDE and generate installable APKS archives from selected Android App Bundles.
Select a connected Android device and install generated APKS files without leaving the JetBrains tool window.
Automatically detect, download, and cache bundletool.jar so the workflow does not depend on manual path setup.
Parse Gradle signing configurations when available, with manual keystore fallback for projects that need custom signing input.
Scan common Gradle output folders and custom directories for local AAB files, sorted by modified time and build type.
Connect GitHub or GitLab releases and find AAB assets published by CI workflows, including private repositories with tokens.
AAB Tools is the free, focused companion plugin. ADB Pro is the primary paid product for the complete Android release workflow. The relationship is not competition; AAB Tools covers a single entry workflow, while ADB Pro handles the full release lifecycle.
| Workflow | AAB Tools Free | ADB Pro |
|---|---|---|
| AAB to APKS conversion | Yes. | Yes, integrated with broader release tooling. |
| APKS install to device | Yes. | Yes, with adjacent device and artifact workflows. |
| bundletool management | Yes. | Yes. |
| Gradle signing config | Yes. | Yes, plus dedicated signing tools and verification. |
| Remote release AAB scan | GitHub and GitLab release assets. | Part of a larger AAB and CI/CD workflow. |
| Bundle inspection | No dedicated inspector. | Yes, with bundle structure and size inspection. |
| Release readiness checks | No. | Yes, including minify, signing, secrets, SDK, and policy checks. |
| R8 and ProGuard support | No. | Yes, with R8 Assistant, rules, dictionaries, mapping analysis, and deobfuscation. |
| Resource obfuscation | No. | Yes, with Res Guard and whitelist management. |
| CI/CD generation | No. | Yes, for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Jenkins. |
| Situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You only need to convert one AAB and install it on a local device. | Use AAB Tools Free. |
| You want a no-cost bundletool workflow in a JetBrains IDE. | Use AAB Tools Free. |
| You publish AAB files to GitHub or GitLab releases and want to install them quickly. | Start with AAB Tools Free. |
| You need signing verification, release checks, R8 rules, resource obfuscation, and CI/CD generation. | Use ADB Pro. |
| You ship Android apps repeatedly and want one integrated release engineering workspace. | Use ADB Pro. |
Yes. AAB Tools is a free JetBrains Marketplace plugin. It is designed as a focused utility for AAB to APKS conversion and installation.
No. Devices install APKs or split APKs, not raw AAB files. AAB Tools uses bundletool to generate an APKS archive and install the device-specific split APKs.
Yes. The plugin can automatically manage bundletool.jar so developers do not need to manually download and configure the path before using the tool.
Yes. AAB Tools can parse Gradle signing configurations and also supports manual keystore fallback when the Gradle config is not available or not suitable.
Yes. The plugin includes remote release scanning for GitHub and GitLab repositories, including token-based access for private repositories.
AAB Tools is free and focused on AAB conversion and installation. ADB Pro is a paid, full release workflow plugin that also includes release readiness, signing tools, R8 Assistant, resource obfuscation, CI/CD tools, dependency health, and build performance features.