Any of you phone geeks need a good laugh?

I am proud to call myself a Luddite, especially when it comes to cell phones.  I am using a phone that is just a few years old, but lately its been making me suspect that it's outdated.  I use my phone only for texting, and occasionally for a voice call.  I was perfectly happy with my flip-phone, but my kids talked me into a "smartphone."

The phone in question is a Moto G6 Play, running Android 9.0.  It is more phone than I need, but I need it to keep doing what it does.

Is there any way to keep this thing viable for a couple years for no money?  I see articles about Lineage OS and wonder how that all works?

You'll probably kill the battery first.  It will exhaust its charge cycles and start getting a lower capacity.  The phone itself is pretty bulletproof.  

Find a charging brick that is no more than 1 amp, and only charge when it's below about 15%.  If you need to charge it fast, go ahead and do a 2 amp charger or more, just don't make it standard practice.

Oh, and I'll add....

Moto G6?

Just kidding.  If it ain't broke...

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I feel your pain. My thoughts on cell phones is that they are full of time wasting features, but not many benefits.  I acquire "new" phones when the wife unit or daughter unit replace theirs and mine dies. If it takes lousy pics and can text, it is good enough for me.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

If it ain't broke...

... fix it 'till it is?

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Find a charging brick that is no more than 1 amp, and only charge when it's below about 15%.  If you need to charge it fast, go ahead and do a 2 amp charger or more, just don't make it standard practice.

Mostly yes. Don't ever fully charge, or fully drain. Ideally keep it between 20-80, perfectly between 40-60%. Never let it freeze, don't let it get hot (no leaving in a parked car in the sun), don't use it while charging, don't leave it plugged it after charging. 
 

I've got several lithium batteries more than a decade old still working ok. Age will eventually get you, but they can last a long time and have no memory. 

Your average everyday smart phone is a technological marvel. More CPU and memory horsepower than a gaming PC from the 2010s. Some have input devices (Galaxy Ultra series pen) that are pretty nice. My Galaxy's USB-C to USB-A Master adapter (used for those who were transferring iPhone data to their shiny new Galaxy) allowed me to plug in a wireless mouse and... oh E36 M3, a mouse pointer!? It wasn't even an advertised feature--the thing was just there to swipe data from my iPhone! But hey, mouse drivers? Why not?

They're literally laptops. Except they have cameras. And yes, they can probably run Crysis.

Things you can do with a phone that you probably didn't realize you could do with it:

1.) Run Crysis. Probably. I'm going to look into that. I've never actually played it, but if it's been ported, then I'm plugging in my keyboard and mouse and trying it.

2.) Share media with friends and family in a way that e-mail just can't with its paltry 25 MB size constraint. (See WhatsApp)

3.) Control other devices like your TV. Kids lost the remote? Of course they did (or was it me?). No matter. A few taps, and I'm controlling it with my phone.

4.) Translation of language (written or spoken) in real time. Arigatou Gozaimasu, Google Translate!

5.) Log into your VPN and access your file server and find that document you saved at home. Then....

6.) Open that document in Word. Or Excel. Or a Linux or Apple version of those applications.

7.) Measure distance in 3D space, including angles, just by pointing your camera at them. Like magic.

8.) Ping your own network from inside your network... and then outside the network... simply by turning off wifi and connecting to your provider's network. Because your crappy Motorola wireless access point thinks it should be a router, and because Motorola doesn't know how to design a robust user interface for their home electronics gear.

9.) Take absolutely incredible pictures, including some really wild shots of space, with powerful image enhancement tools (if you want) or just grab the raw image and edit it yourself.

10.) Install Torque (Android only), plug the thing into a charger port, connect it to a bluetooth OBDII dongle, and get real-time data from your race car. Maybe just... velcro it to the dash or whatever.

They're not just attention-grabbing, personal information stealing, time-wasting devices. I've found Android to be a great, flexible, and powerful platform. iOS is always good for almost everybody. Windows Mobile (Windows 8/RT era) was the prettiest, but with the worst support.

1988RedT2 said:

The phone in question is a Moto G6 Play, running Android 9.0.  It is more phone than I need, but I need it to keep doing what it does.

Is there any way to keep this thing viable for a couple years for no money?  I see articles about Lineage OS and wonder how that all works?

I used to just want a phone to do basic things and I was happy that I could get a $50 phone that would do that.  I had a G8.  It became so slow that I would often miss calls simply because by the time the phone started ringing, or the time I was able to "pick up", the caller on the other end had hung up.  It had several text issues too, but I suppose that was the fault of Google (Fi), not necessarily the phone.  The camera became effectively unsusable.

Prior to that I had a Moto X4 that suffered the same fate.

So yeah, I'm skeptical that you can keep it viable.  Unfortunately stuff that runs complex software and is connected to the internet/phone networks can become obsolete even for super basic uses.

I wish you luck.
 

First I'd try a factory reset. Once you log back into Google it'll transfer your contacts back and other stuff if you want. Personally I just wipe and restore contacts for a clean slate.