Hacker Read

jbergstroem · 2017-07-27 21:02:45

Used to be some time ago when downloads were ~5-7mb. Nowadays it uses Electron:

/Applications/Slack.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework/Versions/A/Electron Framework

jlongster | karma 7555 | avg karma 10.69 · | 2019-06-25 14:49:44

My guess is Slack likes to keep pages around, and each workspace is a separate page that are individually pretty heavy. So if I'm logged into 4-5 workspaces that adds up quick.

Slack does not use the OS webview, it is Electron. I don't think it's a 3MB download - if it is it must just be an installer that installs the real thing? I haven't looked recently.

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flanbiscuit | karma 1700 | avg karma 2.66 · | 2019-07-29 10:28:15

10+ electron apps seems excessive, what other Electron apps are you running? I think Slack is the only one I'm running (that I know of)

luckylion | karma 3881 | avg karma 0.72 · | 2019-06-25 14:54:16+00:00

I don't like Slack for that reason, but it's a Slack issue, not Electron. Other Electron apps (vscode, keeweb for example) aren't that resource hungry.

pizzapill | karma 327 | avg karma 2.77 · | 2018-02-22 11:19:52

Slack uses ~ 2 GB of Ram and ~ 10% CPU when idle. I used it for a short while but now I'm just leaving a Slack tab open in my browser. Its exactly the same functionality-wise.

Basically I'm fine with Electron apps but I have yet to find one that I need and can't be replaced by a browser tab.

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neilsimp1 | karma 633 | avg karma 2.24 · | 2017-09-07 13:48:51+00:00

Have you noticed Slack slow down/use too many resources as a result of being an Electron app? Honest question, I've never used Slack, but have used other Electron apps and never really have any issues.

enraged_camel | karma 16714 | avg karma 2.78 · | 2017-07-27 22:57:36+00:00

Use Slack on the browser. Works great. No performance or resource usage issues.

Not sure why so many people use the desktop app. It's an Electron app so of course it will suck up everything.

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matwood | karma 18013 | avg karma 2.75 · | 2019-09-04 12:23:50+00:00

My Slack app on MacOS has been up for awhile. Current usage is 197+183+132 = 512MB. Much better than before, but still not small.

sys_64738 | karma 3813 | avg karma 1.25 · | 2019-06-22 03:43:16+00:00

The Slack client is a terrible memory hog in my experience. I can't believe they need to use Electron instead of the platform native FWs.

shp0ngle | karma 6104 | avg karma 3.67 · | 2023-02-26 01:05:48

Slack took great pains to make the client not be a memory and CPU hog.

Still better than Teams though. (Which is also in Electron.)

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sgt | karma 7200 | avg karma 1.86 · | 2019-10-21 10:51:26+00:00

The Slack app is Electron based and pretty bloated too in my experience. I want a native app.

jsmthrowaway | karma 4278 | avg karma 3.16 · | 2018-03-07 21:40:09+00:00

I remember when Slack in a Chrome tab committed 3-4 GB. Sounds like they've made improvements.

Standalone client and its helpers are sitting on ~800MB committed on my install of High Sierra. Might be worth a shot.

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pknerd | karma 1608 | avg karma 1.13 · | 2020-08-24 12:39:35

Slack uses electron if I am not wrong.

yani | karma 396 | avg karma 1.49 · | 2020-03-25 07:42:04+00:00

To my knowledge, Slack has always been an electron app. Did they use something else initially that was unnoticed?

anoncake | karma 1589 | avg karma 0.5 · | 2021-05-03 02:13:36+00:00

Slack uses Electron, doesn't it?

jamil7 | karma 3698 | avg karma 1.98 · | 2019-10-21 10:43:43+00:00

I'm not a massive slack (or electron) fan but with it open right now in 7 teams it's using around 85mb of memory. It's improved a fair bit.

maxharris | karma 1 | avg karma 0.0 · | 2020-09-24 04:04:18

Why is Slack still an Electron app? I stopped using it because it's so slow. Native apps are fast.

welly | karma 833 | avg karma 1.58 · | 2019-06-20 09:09:43+00:00

Slack is using 89mb here. I never notice it running, personally.

grinich | karma 6199 | avg karma 4.26 · | 2016-03-28 18:05:57

As an aside, I don't believe the Slack app is taking full advantage of ElectronJS. It's essentially still just a wrapped webapp. (They run the same version in the browser.)

Full ElectronJS apps can use something called ASAR which effectively creates a super efficient bundle for loading application code at launch. More here: https://github.com/atom/electron/blob/master/docs/tutorial/a...

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tecleandor | karma 2032 | avg karma 2.5 · | 2024-05-31 13:09:21

Slack and the Jira suite are terrible.

Slack web downloads 40MB of Javascript. The macOS Slack client, that I guess should have all that stuff already, downloads 10MB of stuff just by starting it (and going directly to a private text only chat).

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