Delay showing input box

[UnderpantsGnome]

When I hit CMD+Space there is a ~2-3 second delay before the input box appears, this only seems to happen after inactivity, so I can only replicate it after not using Alfred for a while.

 

version: 5.5 [2257]

macOS: 14.5 (23F79)

hotkey: CMD+Space (Spotlight is set to something else, not sure what, I don't use it)

 

Settings are pretty much the defaults, I do have a directory ~/code with a lot of git repos, but I have that in the Spotlight privacy, so it should be ignored.

 

I have diagnostics, but I wasn't sure if it's "safe" to attach those here 🙂 

 

[Vero]

@UnderpantsGnome You can email your Diagnostics to our info@ address and I'll take a look

 

Having said that, this is the best starting point when using Cmd + Space and experiencing any unusual behaviour:

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/cmd-space/

 

In short, a lot of apps and macOS tools like that combo, so you need to check there is no interference from other apps being triggered at the same time.

 

You can try a different, more obscure combo temporarily to see if it's only happening with Cmd + Space.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[UnderpantsGnome]

Thanks @Vero I went through the CMD+Space list and none of them look to be conflicting. I sent the diags over.

 

I tried putting my Mac to sleep to test but when I woke it back up it worked fine, so I'm guessing it's time related. 

 

[Vero]

@UnderpantsGnome Taking a look at your Diagnostics, the first port of call is what I suggested in my earlier email; Try using a different hotkey combo temporarily and see what behaviour you get.

 

The next aspect is that you're using Dropbox to sync - which is fine - but you need to check that your Alfred preferences folder is definitely set to be stored offline, as there could be delays or quirky behaviour if Dropbox decides to set your preferences to be stored online-only, even briefly.

 

Details on ensuring you're set to store preferences locally can be found here:

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/advanced/sync/#always-offline

 

Edit: And I've now just seen your most recent reply, saying that after sleep, it's working fine, see if restarting your Mac may be all it takes if macOS got itself a little muddled!

 

Let me know how you get on

[UnderpantsGnome]

Hi @Vero I have updates.

 

re hotkey: I swapped it to Option+space, it happened again with that.

 

re dropbox: The files are always available, I'm not even sure the last time I opened the dropbox app, I haven't needed to sync prefs to another machine in over a year. I can probably just move those files. Actually I just checked and I didn't even re-install dropbox when I did a clean install 🤷‍♂️

 

I will reboot and circle back. 

[0xbaff1ed1]

Hi,

 

I would like to add that I am also seeing this problem intermittently on one of my computers. I checked through the above link and have confirmed that that there are no conflicts. I also do not use preference syncing across the two Macs. Please tell me if there is anything I can provide to help. This problem seems persist across reboots for me. Thank you!

[Vero]

@0xbaff1ed1 Could you provide more details? Which version of macOS and Alfred are you using? Do you experience any intermittence when changing your hotkey combo?

[UnderpantsGnome]

Hi @Vero I did not get a lag this morning, which was the usual time I would see it, so maybe the reboot gave things a little nudge.

 

For now I'll say we are good, if this pops back up and a reboot doesn't help, I will let you know.

 

Keep up the great work 🙂 

[0xbaff1ed1]

On 6/27/2024 at 4:08 AM, Vero said:

@0xbaff1ed1 Could you provide more details? Which version of macOS and Alfred are you using? Do you experience any intermittence when changing your hotkey combo?

Hi @Vero,

 

Apologies for the late response. I am on Sonoma 14.5 which I believe is the latest version of macOS. I am currently using Alfred 5.5 [2257] which I also believe is the latest. For me, the issue is intermittent to begin with. I would say on average it happens 3-4 times a day and usually the appearance of the input box is pretty quick AFTER a delayed appearance; after a couple of hours, it shows up delayed again. Reboots have not been fruitful in permanently solving this particular issue. I will test it out with a different input and come back with findings, but I don't believe it to be a hotkey conflict since that should cause the delay for every attempt (I think?).

Edited July 11 by 0xbaff1ed1

[Vero]

@0xbaff1ed1 There is nothing intrinsic to Alfred that would cause a delay after a period of downtime on your Mac, but it's possible for things like external connected drives, high CPU load, or setting your Alfred preferences to be stored in a non-local path to cause some unexpected behaviour.

 

If you can provide more details, we may be able to help you pinpoint the source of the delay you're experiencing so that you can get the best out of Alfred and your Mac

[tleveque]

Hi, I have the exact same problem. It seems it started after one of the latest Mac Os update.
My Google drive account is set with the "sync" mode... so always local.
I have no other applications that are using the Option-space shortcut. And even if I change it, I have the bug again (after no using Alfred for a while...).

[Stephen_C]

4 minutes ago, tleveque said:

My Google drive account is set with the "sync" mode... so always local.

To be absolutely clear, have you done exactly what is mentioned on this Alfred help page: Syncing Your Alfred Settings Between Macs?

Quote

Google Drive: Right-click Alfred.alfredprerences and select Offline access > Available offline.

 

Stephen

[tleveque]

3 minutes ago, Stephen_C said:

To be absolutely clear, have you done exactly what is mentioned on this Alfred help page: Syncing Your Alfred Settings Between Macs?

 

Stephen

Like I said, in the Google Drive preferences, I am set to be in "sync" mode all the time. They call this "Mirror files".

 

When you are set like this, there is no option to set a file to be local:

[Stephen_C]

2 minutes ago, tleveque said:

Like I said, in the Google Drive preferences, I am set to be in "sync" mode all the time.

Sorry—it was merely to check. I never use Google Drive so was not aware that, apparently, in certain cases, that help page might be inaccurate. However, I still suspect what you have set in Google Drive is not satisfying Alfred's requirement for his preferences to be available locally.

 

I'll leave it for someone with more experience of Google Drive to add something more helpful for you.

 

Stephen

[Vero]

@tleveque Could you please provide your Diagnostics file, which you can get by typing "?diagnostics" into Alfred? You can then email it to our info@ address.

 

I'd like to see how your search scope is configured, amongst other things.

[Vero]

@tleveque There are three things that can cause delay in Alfred starting up:

1. Search scope issues: Including drives that are slow to respond to the search scope, which in your case doesn't appear to be the issue
2. Preferences being stored in a non-locally stored location: You're using iCloud, so please check that you've disabled Optimised Storage
3. Conflicting hotkeys: You're using ⌥Space so check whether any other apps/services on your Mac might be triggered at the same time with this hotkey combo

Let me know how you get on.

[tleveque]

 

9 hours ago, Vero said:

@tleveque There are three things that can cause delay in Alfred starting up:

1. Search scope issues: Including drives that are slow to respond to the search scope, which in your case doesn't appear to be the issue
2. Preferences being stored in a non-locally stored location: You're using iCloud, so please check that you've disabled Optimised Storage
3. Conflicting hotkeys: You're using ⌥Space so check whether any other apps/services on your Mac might be triggered at the same time with this hotkey combo

Let me know how you get on.

1. Is there a config somewhere to disable search on external drive? I actually have one always connected. Or is it using the Spotlight setting?

2. Like I said. This is clearly not the problem. I have tested Google Drive, iCloud (both in local file mode) and also a local only path for the preferences

3. At this time, I tested with 3 different hotkeys. Option-space, Shift-Ctrl-space and Ctrl-option-cmd-space!! I am pretty sure I don't have any conflict.

The problem started happening  after an MacOs 14.4 or 15.5 update, I am not sure. Nothing else changed on my Mac and on the applications usually opened.

 

It is really random. Like today, I didn't see it. But it happened a couple of time yesterday. And nothing changed since yesterday. My mac is always opened. No restart, no shutdown. No network change. Nothing. When my working day is finished, I just let my mac there....