Slow startup (all Affinity apps)

[project_2501]

Why do the following apps, large and small, open source and proprietary, not suffer this problem on MacOS?

• Mathematica
• MS Office
• LibreOffice
• Firefox
• SublimeText
• ffmpeg
• Python
• VS Code
• Lyx
• LateX
• DaVinci Resolve
• Adobe Suite
• Transmission
• Librewolf
• Android File Transfer
• Blender
• Julia Lang
• Ultra Fractal
• Zoom
• Wacom
• ...

[DEMinSoCAL]

5 hours ago, project_2501 said:

Why do the following apps, large and small, open source and proprietary, not suffer this problem on MacOS?

• Mathematica
• MS Office
• LibreOffice
• Firefox
• SublimeText
• ffmpeg
• Python
• VS Code
• Lyx
• LateX
• DaVinci Resolve
• Adobe Suite
• Transmission
• Librewolf
• Android File Transfer
• Blender
• Julia Lang
• Ultra Fractal
• Zoom
• Wacom
• ...

Obviously because all those other apps aren't from Affinity!

[Ansgar]

It seems that with MacOS 15 Apple changed the way, XProtect updates are delivered. Since upgrading to macOS15 I never experienced any slow startups. Apple meanwhile released three XProtect updates. Would be great if this is the end of this post :). Further Information here:

A simple guide to how XProtect installs and updates in Sequoia

[DEMinSoCAL]

5 hours ago, Ansgar said:

It seems that with MacOS 15 Apple changed the way, XProtect updates are delivered. Since upgrading to macOS15 I never experienced any slow startups. Apple meanwhile released three XProtect updates. Would be great if this is the end of this post :). Further Information here:

A simple guide to how XProtect installs and updates in Sequoia

You are correct! All 3 apps start lightning fast!  So while a macOS update fixes the slow startup of Affinity apps (making it appear macOS was the root cause all along), one still has to ask why almost all other apps didn't have the slow startup problem while Affinity apps did?   Who cares?  It's working the way it should now!

[jepho]

Mac Os Ventura 13.7 user here on a 4.2GHz i7 Quad core 5k Retina 27 inch iMac with 48GB of RAM and 1GB fusion drive. I gave up trying to fix the issue of very extended loading times for the Affinity V2 suite of software. I had been wanting to give my computer a new lease of life and I recently installed an external SSD of 1TB capacity. It is now a night and day difference with software loading and performance and Black Magic disk speed test reports around 1724MB/s and 2200 MB/s write and read speeds respectively.

All of the Affinity applications now take around 5 seconds to open from scratch and under 3 seconds if the application has been opened previously. The reasons for me posting on this extensive subject matter is that the information may be of use to other Mac Os users and potentially... it may also assist the software development team.

Edited October 22, 2024 by jepho
information missed off the post

[True Cuckoo]

On 5/12/2023 at 1:38 PM, Dan C said:

unfortunately have found it to be intractable

I know you have issued an official statement. But I'm chiming in here nonetheless. I'm using Pixelmator Pro a lot, and it just starts instantaneously. The app barely bounces once on the dock before it's open, with a heavy document at that. I'm dreading opening Affinity apps due to the often 40 dock bounces long wait. If I close it and open it again right away, it launches immediately. I'm sure you could find a solution by contacting Apple's developer support program. Something has been wrong here for too many years now. I don't experience this with other apps. I'm sure it's in Apple's interest to solve this with you guys.

Edit: I see notes of people saying the issue is gone in Mac OS 15. Sounds great. I'll update once I know that all relevant software, and audio hardware drivers are supported. Usually takes half a year after launch 😅

Edited October 25, 2024 by True Cuckoo

[Oufti]

Anyway, for what I've seen, slow startup of Affinity's apps only happens once upon a while, when you first time relaunch them after XProtect has been updated.

When that happens (approximatively twice a month), I wait for less than a minute (usually 20 seconds) and then I'm ready to do what I want to. It's more than with other apps but I cope with it…

[MikeTO]

I don't think I've experienced the slow launch issue since moving to an M4 Pro a month ago—the apps launch consistently in just one or two dock bounces.

I still see the issue on my M1 Pro with the same version of Sequoia.

[MikeTO]

11 hours ago, MikeTO said:

I don't think I've experienced the slow launch issue since moving to an M4 Pro a month ago—the apps launch consistently in just one or two dock bounces.

I still see the issue on my M1 Pro with the same version of Sequoia.

I waited a few days before posting this just in case I hadn't been paying attention, but it turns out I hadn't been paying attention. 🙂 The slow launch issue is still there and it happened to me several hours after I posted this, it's just not all that slow on this computer.

[abra100pro]

On 12/6/2024 at 2:54 AM, MikeTO said:

I waited a few days before posting this just in case I hadn't been paying attention, but it turns out I hadn't been paying attention. 🙂 The slow launch issue is still there and it happened to me several hours after I posted this, it's just not all that slow on this computer.

Here on my M1 Sequoia AD,APub and aPh are ready in 6 seconds after click to open.

[DEMinSoCAL]

On 12/5/2024 at 5:54 PM, MikeTO said:

I waited a few days before posting this just in case I hadn't been paying attention, but it turns out I hadn't been paying attention. 🙂 The slow launch issue is still there and it happened to me several hours after I posted this, it's just not all that slow on this computer.

My M1 Pro MBP opens the apps in just a few seconds on macOS 15.1.1.  It actually has been working properly since I installed Sequoia.

[Megnusin]

I'm on a MacBook Pro, and when I need a feature that's excluded from Designer, it's an automatic coffee break for me while I wait 60+ seconds for Photo 2 to launch ☕️ 👍

[PROdult]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:38 PM, Dan C said:

We may investigate an option in the future to provide separate installation files on macOS for each hardware type, from the Affinity Store directly - though we do not have any direct plans for this currently and unfortunately it would not change the behaviour experienced when using the mac App Store version.

This has been going on for too long; it's a waste of customers' time and valuable space on expensive Apple hardware. Let's just establish that Silicon is no longer new, so it's quite a lot of customers' resources being wasted.

For all that is good, investigate as soon as possible.

[Goofy]

19 hours ago, PROdult said:

...Silicon is no longer new, so it's quite a lot of customers' resources being wasted.

For all that is good, investigate as soon as possible.

To be clear; this is not a Silicon-only issue, also my Intel-Mac is affected. Nonetheless, it would be very nice, if the issue is being recognized by the Affinity development team and they are going to solve it soon.

[mliving]

🤡

Please. This issues has been going on for years now.

It's random, comes and goes and NEVER goes away for good.

 

[palb]

I also have a problem with slow startup on Mac M1 for Affinity Designer. After first time it's fast until I restart the Mac. If universal, can it be something about Rosetta 2 getting involved?

Please fix it.

Edited February 22 by palb

[MikeTO]

3 hours ago, palb said:

I also have a problem with slow startup on Mac M1 for Affinity Designer. After first time it's fast until I restart the Mac. If universal, can it be something about Rosetta 2 getting involved?

It's not related to Rosetta but happens whenever Apple updates our Mac's built-in security software. The post from Serif pinned to the top of this thread and linked below explains the issue.

I've experienced the slow startup issue on three MacBook Pros. With my Intel one the startup was so slow that I would put the kettle and the dock icon would still be bouncing when I sat back down. With the M1 Pro I had time to reach for my cup of tea and think what I needed to do. With the M4 Pro, I have just enough time to realize that it's taking longer than normal before it's launched, it's so fast that even a slow launch isn't slow.

 

[cre8tivetoy]

I have a Mac Studio with 32gb ram and more than enough free disk space.  I use all three of Affinity applications and I can only say, load up times are getting worse.  Every other piece of software such as Office 365, Photomator, Pexelmator, Final Cut, Black magic and Lightroom all load up faster than Affinity Apps.  

Perhaps Canva has cut back on the development team and we will not see any solution to the problem coming soon or do we have to wait until the paid version 3 upgrade?

Come on Affinity Support team, don't use Apple security as the an excuse; you were once Apple application of the year and used to define great independant software.

[palb]

8 hours ago, MikeTO said:

It's not related to Rosetta but happens whenever Apple updates our Mac's built-in security software.

 

Maybe but I doubt that. If so other apps would have the same issue. Haven't seen other apps having this problem. To me it happens every time I start it. After first time it goes fast. Close and wait a few hours or restart and the first open is slow again. Intuitively, it feels like something related to the startup script. It behaves like a Rosetta thing in the old days.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/apple-silicon/building-a-universal-macos-binary#Specify-the-Launch-Behavior-of-Your-App

Edited February 22 by palb

[MikeTO]

3 hours ago, palb said:

Maybe but I doubt that. If so other apps would have the same issue. Haven't seen other apps having this problem. To me it happens every time I start it. After first time it goes fast. Close and wait a few hours or restart and the first open is slow again. Intuitively, it feels like something related to the startup script. It behaves like a Rosetta thing in the old days.

It may feel like Rosetta but the slow launch issue is due to the size of the apps. An app that is twice as larger as another will take much longer than twice as long to load due to the way it works. It's complicated.

But it is a good idea to check if you're accidentally loading Affinity under Rosetta on an Apple Silicon computer. There have been a few people this week reporting that they were unable to use the new machine learning features and it was due to running under Rosetta. I don't know how that could be switched on by accident but it's worth reviewing. Go to your Applications folder, right-click Affinity Photo, choose Get Info, and ensure "Open With Rosetta" is not selected. Repeat for the other two apps.

[palb]

7 hours ago, MikeTO said:

It may feel like Rosetta but the slow launch issue is due to the size of the apps. An app that is twice as larger as another will take much longer than twice as long to load due to the way it works. It's complicated.

Don't think it's that. Just opened Android Studio that I haven't opened in a while. It is nearly as big. Opened almost instantly. I suspect something in the launch script.

Edited February 23 by palb

[Goofy]

2 hours ago, palb said:

Don't think it's that.

Mee, too, because, as you mentioned before, this happens also on an Intel-Mac.

[iY8Zaj4B]

Interestingly, the issue is gone for me since a couple of weeks/months. I have no idea why .. there were MacOS updates, I still shutdown my Mac all the time ... I am using it the same as before, nothing has changed. But Affinity apps start instantly now... very strange.

[MikeTO]

5 hours ago, palb said:

Don't think it's that. Just opened Android Studio that I haven't opened in a while. It is nearly as big. Opened almost instantly. I suspect something in the launch script.

We can't directly compare app file sizes because an app is not one big file, it's a package, like a zip file, made up of many files. Affinity apps have a larger executable than some other apps with similar file sizes.

1 hour ago, iY8Zaj4B said:

Interestingly, the issue is gone for me since a couple of weeks/months. I have no idea why .. there were MacOS updates, I still shutdown my Mac all the time ... I am using it the same as before, nothing has changed. But Affinity apps start instantly now... very strange.

The issue will happen whenever Apple updates XProtect which they last did about Feb 7. There is no set schedule which is why it feels random. Apple updates it when there are new malware signatures that need to be scanned for. Here is what Apple has to say about it:

XProtect checks for known malicious content whenever:
- An app is first launched
- An app has been changed (in the file system)
- XProtect signatures are updated
...Apple issues the updates for XProtect automatically based on the latest threat intelligence available. By default, macOS checks for these updates daily...

[nxc]

On cold start (after reboot) the app takes upwards of 30 seconds to start on my M3 Max (64GB RAM) Macbook Pro. Over 700GB of free disk space, and  >50% of the RAM is free.

After the initial long launch, you can close the app and it will reopen near instantly.

I'd be happy to provide any verbose debug logs to assist with troubleshooting this issue.. its been a huge pain in the rear.