Does anybody else out there think that maybe our cell phones have planned

Not much to go on, really.

Like what kind of phone? What model? What are the symptoms.

But, yes, they want you to buy a new phone every two or three years. What usually happens is that the batteries on iPhones stop holding a charge very well. On Android phones, the latest OS update can't be installed. That sort of thing.

Once wouldn’t turn off. Today two apps not showing but when I looked Into settings they were still on the phone.

My 6 wouldn’t hold a charge until I couldn’t stand anymore and I upgraded to an 11. I like my 11but I loved my 6!

No weirdness.
And, my phone is the bottom of the middle class of phones.
Much closer to the cheapest ones than to the high priced phones.

Cellphone companies are open about parts of this practice, but have paid settlements for other parts of it that they hid, like purposely slowing down older phones.

An older phone of mine lasted forever by just replacing the battery.

Once the battery starts to go the phone becomes increasingly degraded if the battery can not be replaced.

...having said that, I have an original Apple SE phone that came out at about the time of the iPhone 5 or 6, and it still works perfectly, for my purposes....

New software that's incompatible with old hardware, etc.

I've bought new computers many times in the past because the old ones weren't going to work anymore to view websites they used to open, and so on.

that was such a dirty trick to pull I would never buy another.

All phone batteries die. It's the nature of batteries they have a limited life. This is not an Apple invention. In fact most battery usage statistics I have seen say iPhones battery last longer than androids do to optimization.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/android-vs-ios-battery-life-63204.html

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3599141/apples-iphone-slowdown-ploy-was-ridiculous-even-by-apple-standards.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51413724#:~:text=It%20said%20the%20lithium%2Dion,to%20protect%20its%20electronic%20components.

in missed or recent calls. Does it about 3 or 4 times/day.

I only found this out after I bought it. i had to get rid of my previous phone because it could not run the basic apps that I needed it to run (and I'm not a big fan of phone apps; I have the bare minimum for what I need, and I am extremely hesitant to add more.) Nonetheless, I had to get rid of that phone too.

By contrast, I have laptops that are 7 years and older. I maintain tgen myself and take them apart if I need to, generally sourcing spare parts from eBay etc. On occasion, I take them to a local repair shop if I can't figure it out. However, my 7+ year old laptops work fine, even today, unlike my "smart"phones.

Maybe an IOS update?

try looking up the symptoms online. use a search engine like Alta Vista or Bing.

I went one month where I was without a payment. I had to get another phone. Of course my s9 was perfect up until then so I got an s10 and it is also perfect for me. Well, probably in two years it will not be.

Samsung Android about six years old. Dropping calls, dropping texts, just acting weird sometimes. My tablet too, can't hold a charge.

Old stuff never behaved this way. I've seen it too many times. All this stuff is disposable.

I have very few apps on it.

I want it to do these things:

1) make/recieve calls
2) handle texts
3) run google maps for driving directions.
4) play a few games.
5) When I get on airplanes, load the airline app for checkin, flight status etc.

I have restricted the power usage on it, at the end of a normal day I am at 80% power. This is the original battery. I got the phone 8 years ago I think. (it was not a new phone then)

I have had to restrict updates -- recent versions of google maps will crash (though they are *supposed* to work). Old version does what I need it to do.

I am also very careful with my phone -- I have never dropped it, and I don't set it down hard etc. Comes from a mindset that computers are fragile, and a cellphone these days is just a tiny computer, with a lot of little electrical connections that if fractured, can cause intermittent problems as the circuity heats up or cools down.

At least $27 million to France and $113 million in the U.S.

Apple fined for slowing down old iPhones

Apple to pay $113 million over deliberately slowing down iPhones

Apple's iPhone slowdown ploy was ridiculous, even by Apple standards

An Android user, I've suspected there's something going on possibly using updates to slow them down. It has become really noticeable after getting a new (cheap) 5G phone on Cyber Monday. Everything the new one does including app updates is almost instantaneous while my old phone is very slow by comparison.

My flip phone has been through 6 kinds of hell and keeps on going. It made one trip through the washer and dryer and still worked!

cost about 20 bucks each and we pay around 80 bucks each for a years' service.

It's kind of interesting if you can get a hold of something that we all still use today and was available 50 or 60 years ago. If the 60 year old product was taken care of, it probably works as well or better than a newer model in some cases.

Case in point, I have a large table fan that belonged to my great grandmother. That thing will circulate more air than anything you can buy short of something industrial. We have all kinds of kitchen appliances as well that are amazing.

You might get more mileage with higher priced products but they will still done.

Now you can almost get it paid off.

...you’re free to buy from someone else if you don’t think the phone lasts long enough.

That's okay, everyone I know knows to just hang up and I will call them back. It never happens when I call.