Big Sur, apps slow to launch

[Birdy1062]

Hello all,

Just made a clean install of Big Sur on my MacBook Pro 2016 with SSD 500 GB.
Now in the process of reinstalling apps....
I've noticed that all non apple apps are quite slow to open on first opening: the icon is bouncing 7-10 times before the app is open.
After that if I completely close the app (not minimizing it but really closing it) and open it again the app is available after max 1 or 2 bounces of the icon.
Never had this issue with previous version of OS X.

Every time I reboot this happens again, first opening slow, thereafter normal.
Tried wiping off HD (again) and reinstalling Big Sur (again), no changes.
It isn't a big issue as I don't reboot that often but still it bothers me...

Any solution?

Cheers

 

[Apple_Robert]

Are your apps Silicon based or Intel? If the latter, that may explain first run behavior, or the apps need better optimization.

 

[Birdy1062]

Are your apps Silicon based or Intel? If the latter, that may explain first run behavior, or the apps need better optimization.

Tks for your swift reply.

Have no idea what you're referring to Silicon or intel based apps...
My processor is intel that's sure

It happens for instance with office 365, does that help?

 

[Böhme417]

Tks for your swift reply.

Have no idea what you're referring to Silicon or intel based apps...
My processor is intel that's sure

It happens for instance with office 365, does that help?

I've noticed this with all Office apps but no other third-party apps. My Office apps are taking up to 20 bounces to open but opened in 2 or 3 under Catalina. It is extremely annoying. I was just about to start a post on this myself.

 

[Birdy1062]

I've noticed this with all Office apps but no other third-party apps. My Office apps are taking up to 20 bounces to open but opened in 2 or 3 under Catalina. It is extremely annoying. I was just about to start a post on this myself.

After second look I think you're right; it seems to be only office products related...

 

[normd1954]

Most of my apps are affected. Apparently Apple checks to see if my software is "official" and I constantly get errors that I do not have Permission to open the app. Then I try again and it opens fine. Big Sur is terrible. I will not update any of my other Macs until this gets fixed.

 

[veganryan]

Just found this thread while searching around. Any solutions for how slow Office programs are to open on Big Sur? Considering I work from home and need these programs constantly, it's driving me crazy.
If you've figured out how to open Office programs faster, I'd love to hear it. I've done everything I can find online with "tips to speed up Big Sur" but none are related to launching programs.
Thanks!

 

[normd1954]

I have this problem as well. I try to launch apps (Microsoft, Chrome and others). I tried changing permissions but that does not help much. Apps try to launch and I get en error that I do not have permission to use the app. Then the app launches or I can launch it with out the message. Big Sur sucks. I will not update my other Macs. Never thought I’d say that about Apple software.

 

[archover]

I have the problem especially with Adobe Photoshop which takes ages to launch but also with the Microsoft products. It did not happen with the initial update to macOS Big Sur but with recent updates of Big Sur.

 

[normd1954]

I may have a solution. Check to see if you have two (or more) Application folders. You should only have one at the top level of your disk. Click on your hard drive and your should see your main Applications Folder (as well as Library, System and Users). If you Open Users, your username and see an Applications folder there with the problematic apps, you have found your problem. Move your apps to the Main Application folder or reinstall into that folder. You may have to Boot into Restore mode, launch Terminal and run repairHomePermissions (case sensitive) to get the installs to go into the right place.

 

[Grey hair]

Hello all.

I suffered the same problem immediately after upgrading to Bug Sur. Three sessions with Apple Tech Support have failed to resolve it. For a long time I thought is was a problem with Office 365 and I had helpful suggestions from the Microsoft Community (although many of the suggested fixes were overly complex for a grey-haired fellow like me). During this period I re-installed both Office 365 and Big Sur and, of course, I have kept both updated throughout. But more recently I realised this is almost certainly a Mac OS problem because the bouncing icons in the Dock etc are also seen with other applications such as Adobe Acrobat, and with small apps (they used to be called widgets) downloaded from the App Store.

normd1954 may have a good point. I have just checked my hard drive and I can indeed see two Application folders. One looks like it may be the basic Apple folder and it is 705Mb. The other folder duplicates the first and contains my productivity apps like Office 365, Google Earth, Adobe, Epson printer, Skype, Spotify etc etc. totalling 20.98Gb. I am going to contact Apple Support again as I don't want to fiddle with anything on my own.

I look forward to comments from members.

 

[marzer]

Hello all.

I suffered the same problem immediately after upgrading to Bug Sur. Three sessions with Apple Tech Support have failed to resolve it. For a long time I thought is was a problem with Office 365 and I had helpful suggestions from the Microsoft Community (although many of the suggested fixes were overly complex for a grey-haired fellow like me). During this period I re-installed both Office 365 and Big Sur and, of course, I have kept both updated throughout. But more recently I realised this is almost certainly a Mac OS problem because the bouncing icons in the Dock etc are also seen with other applications such as Adobe Acrobat, and with small apps (they used to be called widgets) downloaded from the App Store.

normd1954 may have a good point. I have just checked my hard drive and I can indeed see two Application folders. One looks like it may be the basic Apple folder and it is 705Mb. The other folder duplicates the first and contains my productivity apps like Office 365, Google Earth, Adobe, Epson printer, Skype, Spotify etc etc. totalling 20.98Gb. I am going to contact Apple Support again as I don't want to fiddle with anything on my own.

I look forward to comments from members.

No, you don't want to fiddle with any of that. Since Catalina macOS creates two disk volumes when it install, System (read-only to users) and Data (read/write to users). The apps included with macOS exist on the System volume (you can see this under the /System/Applications folder). Apps the user installs go into /Applications folder on the Data volume, and the default OS apps will also show under there as well, for convenience. That's how the new macOS is designed to work. Even though the macOS apps show in two locations under Finder, there's actually only one instance on disk. You can check this by listing the folder contents through Terminal.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Slow opening of a new app the first time is normal, now. The OS checks the application for safety before completely opening it. Large applications like Mathematica or Xcode can take a long time.

It should only happen once for each new program. After that it should be normal.

The one exception is if the developer hasn't signed the application properly with Apple, then the system will check it each time you open it. This happened with LyX earlier this year. It took a couple of updates before it would open properly.