Re: PSA: How to archive your EXACT homescreen(s) apps to Windows for perfect cross-platform backup/restore sans the net

While it took nearly an entire day to get this functionality working, 
as far as I'm aware, it exists nowhere else on earth, so it's worth
summarizing since it was developed in stages but it solves the problem.

Imagine you want to take a snapshot of your exact home screen setup, which
exactly reproduces every single pane/page, the folders you've organized
your apps into, the icons on your desktop, and the actual application files
(APKs) themselves, onto another phone (or the same phone after a reset).

That is what this Python script (apkhome.py) does.

Instead of relying on cloud backups (like Google Drive) or proprietary
manufacturer software, this script uses a home screen app backup
(specifically from TeslaCoils' last known good version of Nova Launcher)
and a developer tool called ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to copy everything
locally over your Wi-Fi network or a USB cable onto your desktop PC.

The first thing it does is read your homescreen layout from the nova db.
That layout includes everything needed to exactly replicate the homescreen.
Then adb finds every app installer on your phone for every app icon.
The script re-creates the exact folder hierarchy on your PC with the APK.
Lastly, it generates a restoration script to restore on a new phone.

Optionally, the script features a debug mode to test in shorter time.
And the script has smart APK handling for the modern split APK structure.
The script handles visual version tracking and it keeps a detailed log.
Since it could take a while to run, a Control+C was gracefully added.

The only prerequisites (other than the phone being on the LAN) are:
a. A nova backup file
b. ADB on a PC
c. Python 

As far as I'm aware, this functionality exists nowhere else on earth.
However, I only tested it with my phone and my PC, which are:
 Android 13, Samsung Galaxy A32-5G, locked bootloader, de-googled
 (i.e., there is no account for any OEM, not Google, not Samsung)
 Windows 10, Python  3.14.1