2023-02-15

Extract assets from iOS apps

Example use case: extracting images of world maps from Zwift Companion app.

On iOS, download the desired app using AppStore, e.g. Zwift Companion.

Connect the iOS device with Mac with USB cable.

On Mac:

install and open Apple Configurator
Menu bar » Account » Sign In
Toolbar » Add » Apps
Go to ~/Library/Group Containers/K36BKF7T3D.group.com.apple.configurator/Library/Caches/Assets/TemporaryItems/MobileApps/
Rename the file from .ipa to .zip
Extract the zip and open the extracted folder
Navigate to ./Payload/[AppName], right click, Show Show Package Contents
There should be a large Assets.car file

Install acextract

brew tap canhth/homebrew-acextract
brew install acextract

Open terminal in that folder and run acextract
```
acextract -i Assets.car -o Assets-extracted
```
That’s it!