File search taking too long since Alfred 4.0.4 [Fixed in 4.0.7 b1131

[afzalive]

In the latest versions of Alfred 4 and Alfred 3, typing something like "f doc" takes way too long to return results.

 

I have been able to track this down to the builds that contain the following changelog:

 

Alfred 4.0.4 Build 1111

Quote

• Force default sort order to file metadata query to ensure most relevant results before Alfred has accumulated internal knowledge

 

Alfred 3.8.3 Build 967

Quote

•    Add default sort order back to file metadata query to ensure most relevant results before Alfred has accumulated internal knowledge

 

 

Any build before this change does not face the same issue and displays the results very fast. I had to revert to Alfred 4.0.2 (1088) since Alfred 4.0.3 cachefly link yields a 2 byte dmg.

 

 

[Vero]

@afzalive More relevant than Alfred build versions (which are unlikely to be the source of your slow results), which version of macOS are you using?

 

Alfred relies on the macOS metadata, so if you've recently updated to Catalina, there's likely an issue with the underlying metadata index. Are you seeing "Waiting for results from macOS..." when doing a file search?

 

When you see the "Waiting for results" in Alfred, it is Alfred waiting for the macOS metadata server to return file results to him, and the performance at this point is entirely outside of Alfred's control. Having said that, it is quite unusual to see this message in Alfred.

 

First, make sure you're using Alfred 4.0.6+. There are then a few things to try to fix the issue in Catalina:

1. Reset Alfred's default search scope in the Features > Default Results to make sure Alfred isn't looking in any locations that are no longer relevant.
2. Rebuild the macOS metadata index using the shortcut in Alfred's Advanced preferences.
3. Temporarily create a new user account, switch to that user and see the performance on that account, in case any other installed apps on your main profile are interfering with search interactions / performance.

Let us know how you get on.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[Andrew]

@afzalive If your metadata is in good health, you shouldn't experience any issues with this change.

 

Having said that, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with this. I'm going to do a bit more investigating and perhaps back out the default sort order change for a 4.0.7 pre-release.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Andrew]

@afzalive could you please update to the 4.0.7 b1130 pre-release and let me know if your issues are resolved?

[afzalive]

@Vero Thanks, I already tried those steps from other similar threads. Nothing seemed to help long-term.

 

@Andrew Thank you!! Yes! 4.0.7 b1130 worked like expected!

 

Here's the steps I followed just to make sure:

 

1. Tried finding a folder in 4.0.2, worked as expected

2. Updated to latest release (4.0.6), same "waiting for results" issue

3. Updated to latest pre-release (4.0.7 b1130), worked just like (1)!

 

Was it a little tweak or something that you made?

Edited December 6, 2019 by afzalive

[afzalive]

Btw, this does only happen on my personal Mac, which is a 2012 Macbook Pro (non-retina) + SSD w/ Catalina (latest).

 

My work laptop is a 2017 Macbook Pro w/ Mojave, so I guess it's not a fair comparison if the Catalina update broke something.