Amethyst is extremely slow

[emchristiansen]

Thanks for creating Amethyst! It has really helped me organize my desktops!

Amethyst is extremely slow - I'm experiencing a latency of ~5 seconds between the time I issue a command (e.g. layout change) and the response.

Debugging ideas

Poor scaling

I'm guessing there might be poor scaling in the number of workspaces, the number of windows, or maybe even the display size? I have 10 workspaces, each with ~4 windows. The display is 4K.

Performance leak

Sometimes when Amethyst gets really slow I can fix it by restarting Amethyst. This suggests some kind of "performance leak", e.g. a datastructure that gets progressively less manageable as the application runs.

Debug info

Version: 0.19.0 (103)

OS version: Version 13.3.1 (a) (Build 22E772610a)

Screens:
        (0.0, 0.0, 3840.0, 2160.0) [(0.0, 0.0, 3840.0, 2160.0)]

Configuration:
screen-padding-top: 0
window-max-count: 0
enables-layout-hud-on-space-change: 1
focus-follows-mouse: 0
ignore-menu-bar: 0
debug-layout-info: 0
restore-layouts-on-launch: 1
use-canary-build: 0
screen-padding-bottom: 0
floating-is-blacklist: 1
float-small-windows: 1
window-margin-size: 2
screen-padding-right: 0
layouts: (
    tall,
    wide,
    fullscreen,
    "middle-wide"
)
mod1: (
    option,
    shift
)
window-minimum-width: 0
floating: (
)
window-minimum-height: 0
mod2: (
    option,
    shift,
    control
)
follow-space-thrown-windows: 0
screen-padding-left: 0
mouse-follows-focus: 0
smart-window-margins: 1
window-resize-step: 5
window-margins: 1
enables-layout-hud: 1
new-windows-to-main: 0

Manageable applications:
        Google Chrome (com.google.Chrome)
        WhatsApp (desktop.WhatsApp)
        Messenger (com.facebook.archon)
        Code (com.microsoft.VSCode)
        iTerm2 (com.googlecode.iterm2)
        Activity Monitor (com.apple.ActivityMonitor)
        Lens (com.electron.kontena-lens)
        Finder (com.apple.finder)
        Spotify (com.spotify.client)
        Preview (com.apple.Preview)
        VLC (org.videolan.vlc)
        Messages (com.apple.MobileSMS)

[Grekkor]

I have this issue too. Amethyst sometimes takes several seconds to respond.

[ianyh]

I've seen this happen before, and it usually comes down to an app that is very slow to respond. The only one I haven't tried in your list is Lens. Does the performance issue persist when Lens is closed?

[ianyh]

Actually, I haven't tried WhatsApp, now that I think about it.

[emchristiansen]

The slowness is very intermittent, so it's hard to say. Currently Amethyst is running fine with both WhatsApp and Lens running too.

On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 7:19 PM Ian Ynda-Hummel @.***> wrote:

Actually, I haven't tried WhatsApp, now that I think about it.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst/issues/1496#issuecomment-1579585523, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABXDBCCDU3BDAH2IOXRXA3XJ63H3ANCNFSM6AAAAAAXYG5I74 . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>

[ItsTheReal]

Hi, I'm having this issue of slowness as soon as I start Unity (the Game Engine) Unity is quite resource-heavy, but I checked: there is plenty of RAM & CPU left

Was there any progress?

[ysftulek]

Hi, I'm having this issue of slowness as soon as I start Unity (the Game Engine) Unity is quite resource-heavy, but I checked: there is plenty of RAM & CPU left

Was there any progress?

I'm also having a similar problem when using the Unity Game Engine.

[ianyh]

I don't think it's a resources thing. I think they just might not be responding well to the accessibility APIs.

[Naught0]

It takes >1 second to resize windows sometimes (on an ultrawide 5120x1440).

I don't think it's a resources thing. I think they just might not be responding well to the accessibility APIs.

Is there a way I can trigger the accessibility API directly via commandline etc. to determine whether it is the OS or Amethyst originating the slowdown? Would love for snappier resizing :)

[broskees]

I'm also having this issue on my ultrawide (5120x1440).

I also think it's a memory leak because as soon as I restart it, it goes from >10 sec response times (sometimes longer) to instant response times to my commands.

Here's what my setup looks like:

• M1 Macbook Pro
• 3 Column Middle Layout
• Programs Generally Open:
  • YouTube video in PIP mode from Firefox (I have this as an exception for Amethyst)
  • Firefox window with a bunch of tabs open
  • Beeper
  • Messages
  • an iTerm window with a few tabs each running Neovim
  • Rarely I'll have Drafts open too

[patrickwerz]

Same problem. The most niche app I am using are Postman and Webstorm.