How to clear caches in LG G2 running Lollipop 5.0.2?

Question

The Lollipop update for AT&T LG G2 has pretty much destroyed my phone. I'm hoping clearing out every sort of cache might help. But I can't clear the caches the usual ways because (1) the Settings app always crashes when I am in the section where you clear app caches, as does any other app that is made for clearing caches, and (2) restarting into recovery doesn't provide options for clearing any caches. Plus, I'm curious about how to clear ART caches since I haven't found much information about them online. By the way, my phone is not rooted.

So, the question is: How do I clear (1) app caches, (2) individual apps' caches, (3) Dalvik cache (if applicable anymore), and (4) ART cache under these restraints? I'm thinking I'll have to do something via adb, but I can't find info anywhere on how to do it.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Answer 1

If you have root or a custom recovery, you can do this using a terminal emulator or adb. BusyBox required.

shell@android:/ $ su
root@android:/ # cd /data/dalvik-cache
root@android:/data/dalvik-cache # find -type f -exec rm -f {} +
root@android:/data/dalvik-cache # cd ../data
root@android:/data/data # find -type d -name '*cache*' -exec rm -rf {} +

Note that in Android L, ART has fully replaced dalvik, including cache directories (/data/dalvik-cache). The reason for not creating a /data/art-cache is probably for compatibility concerns.

Answer 2

Yeah, just about killed mine too. Battery life went from excellent to abysmal, which was the most maddening change.

I finally settled for the nuclear option and did a factory reset. That did restore the battery life. I'm not sure if it cleared the caches as well, but I should think it did. Just be sure to back up your files, photos and address book before resetting.

Everything else seems to be working OK, considering I've had to figure out most functions of my phone by trial and error. No doubt about it - Lollipop sucks.