I'm just wondering if anyone here maybe has some ideas. My phone is an LG G6 running Android that is like 5 years old. For almost 2 years, the battery has been getting steadily worse to where it's now at the point that I either have to keep the phone plugged into an outlet or on an external battery or it will be dead within 10 minutes. I fucking hate planned obsolescence so I've kept going with this piece of shit phone as much out of spite as due to the fact that I'm broke, unemployed, and can't afford a new one anyway. But the battery isn't even my problem now (I know there are ways of replacing a battery, it's just not easy or "recommended").
My issue now is that all of a sudden it got so laggy that it's essentially useless. Like one minute it was working normally, the next it was so lagged that swiping down to see the menu or whatever takes 5 whole seconds. I can't type a text message because even after the keyboard finally shows up, there is like 4 seconds of delay after I hit a key before it registers. Everything is slow and jerky.
I've of course checked around the web as best as possible but the most common advice is "simply get a new phone!" Yeah, fuck off, I can't afford that. The other advice I've found and tried hasn't helped, such as obvious things like deleting unused apps and old files to free up space. Also going into developer mode so I can see what services are using up RAM or if one of them is hogging it all. None of that works. I tried booting into safe mode, but not only did that not solve the problem, I realized that even the start up animation with the LG logo and then the carrier logo is stuttering and lagging even before it boots into safe mode, so the problem must be pretty fundamental.
I doubt anyone can help because it's no accident that there's nothing to be done but somehow find a way to buy an all new brain-rotting, soul-sucking, attention-sapping, spying, tracking device. I'm still posting here on the off chance that someone might have a solution, but also just because I needed to rant somewhere and this is one of the only places where people get it about this kind of shit. It is yet another one of the countless situations where they have us all over a barrel, making us pay them exorbitant amounts for tech that's made via gross exploitation of humanity while simultaneously helping destroy the habitability of the planet, tech that they've forced into being necessary to even function in this demented ass fucked up hyper capitalist society (same thing with cars and everything involving them too!)
So tldr, does anyone possibly know a way to fix a lagging android phone?
Edit: Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I'll see if I'm able to buy and install a new battery and hope that really is the root of the problem.
I think the plan to replace the battery is a good one.
My only other rec is for your next phone: grab one with support by LineageOS (ideally unlocked). That way, when things start slowing down or breaking, you can install lineageos and usually get 3-5 more years out of it, software-wise. Also this usually means buying a phone that's 2-3 years old, but still really nice, so you only have to pay $200-300 every 5-10 years.
Yeah, it's sounding like the battery issue is the most likely culprit. I'll see what I can do, and maybe post the results when I go through with it.
And thanks for the suggestion of LineageOS. I think I am going to start looking into what my options are for a new phone even if I do try to keep this one going a bit longer with a battery replacement. I have no problem buying older or used tech to save money so that's helpful info. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about this kind of thing. I was skimming another thread talking about fdroid and GrapheneOS, distancing oneself from google as much as possible, and realizing I really should learn more about what all this shit means.
The unlocked (new, not even refurb) OnePlus 9 is a good deal on Amazon right now, if you end up getting a new phone. Works with LineageOS, 5G, great specs, about two years since release: $280. OnePlus phones tend to have very good support for aftermarket OSes, second only to Pixels buy usually a better deal for what you get.
If you end up going that route feel free to hit me up with any questions.