Detect Electron apps on Mac that hasn't been updated to fix the system wide lag

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Where Electron Is Used

  • Confusion over DaVinci Resolve: main GUI is reported as Qt; Electron is used for a “Workflow Integration Plugins” system, possibly also minor UI like docs/help.
  • Some criticize the idea of pulling in Electron for small ancillary UIs (e.g., start screen or help) instead of using native/webview components that already exist in Qt.

Nature of the macOS Lag Bug

  • The lag stems from Electron using a private macOS API that changed in macOS 26 (“Tahoe”), triggering a system‑wide performance issue.
  • The problem persists in 26.1 developer beta per one report.

Responsibility: Apple vs Electron/App Developers

  • One camp: Apple is at fault because the OS update caused a widespread degradation affecting many users; Apple should have caught this in beta, or provided a workaround/transition plan for such a popular framework.
  • Opposing view: Electron knowingly relied on private APIs, which Apple explicitly warns can change; thus the breakage is expected and on Electron and app developers.
  • Middle ground: blame is shared; Apple could treat heavily used “private” behavior as de facto public, or at least communicate/coordinate better, while Electron/app vendors should test against macOS betas and avoid private APIs.

Electron Versioning and Update Practices

  • Many installed apps are several major Electron versions behind; users discover this with the script and are surprised (e.g., Docker Desktop, storage tools, various chat/AI apps).
  • Electron has backported fixes to a couple recent branches, but many apps ship on much older runtimes, illustrating the risk of bundling and weak update discipline.

Detecting and Cleaning Electron Apps

  • The shared script lists Electron apps and their framework versions, highlighting which are fixed vs vulnerable.
  • Others suggest generic shell commands (find for “Electron Framework.framework”, mdfind on bundle identifiers) and an npm tool that fingerprints Electron binaries.
  • Several users use the opportunity to uninstall rarely used Electron apps or switch to native/WebView versions (e.g., new WhatsApp, new Ollama GUI, Obsidian update).

Broader Commentary: macOS Quality, Electron, and Performance

  • Strong criticism of Apple’s annual release cadence and perceived QA decline (Spotlight/Settings search, UI regressions), contrasted with Windows’ slower, more compatible evolution.
  • Complaints that Electron still lacks a shared system runtime, leading to slow security propagation and large updates; some argue many apps could just be PWAs, with filesystem access as the main blocker.
  • A few performance hacks are shared (e.g., instant Dock, or avoiding Dock entirely via keyboard), reflecting a general desire to strip macOS down for speed.