I made a feature request for this. As I see a question pop often enough from people asking on how to edit this manifest.
http://feedback.coronalabs.com/forums/188732-corona-sdk-feature-requests-feedback/suggestions/3574927-be-able-to-edit-android-manifest-disable-certain-o
Vote if you want Corona to look at it. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 335160[/import]
It’s already possible to edit the Android manifest if you unpack the APK built by Corona with apktool.
You can then edit the manifest and afterwards repack/sign to a new APK. [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139866[/import]
Which is a horrid solution.
It is not possible in Corona. Also it was not possible on the mac for a long time as apktool had no mac version that worked with Corona. You need third party tools to do that option with a manual that is crazy long full of “at your own risk”. Also a lot of problems occur with it not working with certain corona builds.
If you read mac user comments and search around on the web you will find lots of talk about the tool only working with certain Corona builds etc.
APK tool is a hobby project that can be cancelled anytime. It may work for some but it is way more work than it should be.
So APK tool is not a solution. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139871[/import]
Have you tried it yourself? I’ve been using apktool with Mac for 2 years now without any hitch regardless of Corona build.
As for the “use at your own risk” part I would say that would have to be the same even if CoronaLabs would allow developers to edit the manifest manually without any control.
IMO the best solution would be to tell CoronaLabs exactly which features you want to edit in the manifest, so that they can provide those options for the ‘build.settings’ file.
[import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139873[/import]
I tried it, didn’t work and did not want to waste my time figuring out if it was me doing something wrong or the tool not working. Too many posts with people mentioning that it didn’t work with certain builds.
Corona already has some options to edit the manifest, in the build settings so it would be logical for them to add the other options too.
Also There are a few different things that keep popping up in the android forums that kinda overlap but not always. But they all have to do with being able to disable certain things in the manifest.
For some it is the phone options that are required for some the internet for other something else.
I don’t know which options everyone else want, I do know that being able to edit the manifest within Corona either via the build.settings or another way within Corona would solve the problem for almost all the people.
And again, apktool is a tool that someone did for fun. If she decides to call it quits the tool is gone. There are not many if any well known alternatives. All point to apktool. If Corona creates a build that doesn’t work with APKtool anymore there is no way of knowing if there will be an update. This might be fine for your work, but I need tools I can rely on and know that they will be there in the future for me to use.
Also if you don’t need the option don’t vote on it. That is great about the system they implemented. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139879[/import]
I know that there’s a GUI version of apktool (called APKTool), which has never worked properly. I’m talking about the command-line version found here (which has always worked for me):
http://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/
I would say that having to use apktool at all is a nuisance, but allowing the developer to edit the manifest *after* a build is not the solution either, as this can (and will) introduce all sorts of weird problems if it’s not edited properly.
The only acceptable final solution would be that the build from Corona requires no editing at all.
The only way to do that is to give the developer a way to specify/change the Android manifest settings in ‘build.settings’. I’d vote for that, but not manually editing the manifest after a build for the reasons above.
[import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139883[/import]
That is why I did a “/disable certain options” The problem with these feature requests is that it is hard to get all the things you want in them. And creating a feature request for every option would not be handy.
I would prefer the build settings option to be able to disable the settings in the manifest prior to building the apk.
That would be the logical way for Corona to solve it.
What also would be cool would be extra options in the build menu of corona where you can check certain features or uncheck them if needed. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139887[/import]
Yeah, getting everything into a feature request isn’t easy…
As you might have already guessed, I definitely prefer the build.settings approach 
I’m going to vote for your request, but also add a comment to what we’ve discussed above. [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139891[/import]
Also, if you feel like giving apktool another try and you run into trouble, give me a shout at ingemarATswipeware com, and I’ll help. [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139895[/import]
It’s already possible to edit the Android manifest if you unpack the APK built by Corona with apktool.
You can then edit the manifest and afterwards repack/sign to a new APK. [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139866[/import]
Which is a horrid solution.
It is not possible in Corona. Also it was not possible on the mac for a long time as apktool had no mac version that worked with Corona. You need third party tools to do that option with a manual that is crazy long full of “at your own risk”. Also a lot of problems occur with it not working with certain corona builds.
If you read mac user comments and search around on the web you will find lots of talk about the tool only working with certain Corona builds etc.
APK tool is a hobby project that can be cancelled anytime. It may work for some but it is way more work than it should be.
So APK tool is not a solution. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139871[/import]
Have you tried it yourself? I’ve been using apktool with Mac for 2 years now without any hitch regardless of Corona build.
As for the “use at your own risk” part I would say that would have to be the same even if CoronaLabs would allow developers to edit the manifest manually without any control.
IMO the best solution would be to tell CoronaLabs exactly which features you want to edit in the manifest, so that they can provide those options for the ‘build.settings’ file.
[import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139873[/import]
I tried it, didn’t work and did not want to waste my time figuring out if it was me doing something wrong or the tool not working. Too many posts with people mentioning that it didn’t work with certain builds.
Corona already has some options to edit the manifest, in the build settings so it would be logical for them to add the other options too.
Also There are a few different things that keep popping up in the android forums that kinda overlap but not always. But they all have to do with being able to disable certain things in the manifest.
For some it is the phone options that are required for some the internet for other something else.
I don’t know which options everyone else want, I do know that being able to edit the manifest within Corona either via the build.settings or another way within Corona would solve the problem for almost all the people.
And again, apktool is a tool that someone did for fun. If she decides to call it quits the tool is gone. There are not many if any well known alternatives. All point to apktool. If Corona creates a build that doesn’t work with APKtool anymore there is no way of knowing if there will be an update. This might be fine for your work, but I need tools I can rely on and know that they will be there in the future for me to use.
Also if you don’t need the option don’t vote on it. That is great about the system they implemented. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139879[/import]
I know that there’s a GUI version of apktool (called APKTool), which has never worked properly. I’m talking about the command-line version found here (which has always worked for me):
http://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/
I would say that having to use apktool at all is a nuisance, but allowing the developer to edit the manifest *after* a build is not the solution either, as this can (and will) introduce all sorts of weird problems if it’s not edited properly.
The only acceptable final solution would be that the build from Corona requires no editing at all.
The only way to do that is to give the developer a way to specify/change the Android manifest settings in ‘build.settings’. I’d vote for that, but not manually editing the manifest after a build for the reasons above.
[import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139883[/import]
That is why I did a “/disable certain options” The problem with these feature requests is that it is hard to get all the things you want in them. And creating a feature request for every option would not be handy.
I would prefer the build settings option to be able to disable the settings in the manifest prior to building the apk.
That would be the logical way for Corona to solve it.
What also would be cool would be extra options in the build menu of corona where you can check certain features or uncheck them if needed. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139887[/import]
Yeah, getting everything into a feature request isn’t easy…
As you might have already guessed, I definitely prefer the build.settings approach
I’m going to vote for your request, but also add a comment to what we’ve discussed above. [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139891[/import]
Also, if you feel like giving apktool another try and you run into trouble, give me a shout at ingemarATswipeware com, and I’ll help. [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 139895[/import]
@swipeware am going to try your advice of http://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/ tonight.
[import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 141567[/import]
would be curious to hear if you’re successful with apktool - I tried using it a while back to no avail but it’s possible I was doing something stupid. I was able to unpack, but when I repacked, the resulting apk couldn’t load onto my device. I *think* I even tried unpacking/repacking without making any changes in case it was something with the change I was trying, but still had the problem … but it was a little while ago so my memory is fuzzy [import]uid: 32462 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 141583[/import]
you have to use jarsigner I think to resign the apk. So far it seems to have worked.
@swipeware gave me some tips on using a ziptool to finish it off. [import]uid: 100901 topic_id: 35160 reply_id: 141655[/import]