Bug 514698

Summary: Noticeable regression in search performance
Product: [Plasma] plasmashell Reporter: Iyán M. V. <me>
Component: Application Launcher (Kickoff) widgetAssignee: Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status: REPORTED ---    
Severity: normal CC: mikel5764, nate, noahadvs
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 6.5.90   
Target Milestone: 1.0   
Platform: Arch Linux   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Iyán M. V. 2026-01-16 15:37:11 UTC 
SUMMARY
After updating to Plasma 6.6 Beta 1 I noticed that the search in the default launcher is a bit slower. This causes me to open wrong applications many times. The workaround is to wait a bit more to than with Plasma 6.5.x to press enter since the moment I finish typing.


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Press Super
2. Write Firefox or Kate, for example
3. Press enter right away

OBSERVED RESULT
In the case of Firefox, for a fraction of a second the Windows results are shown before the Application results. This small time is enough to open the wrong item.

In the case of Kate, the Kate Session results are shown before than the Application results. Same issue as with Firefox.

I can describe a few other examples where the new behavior of the search leads me to open the wrong item.

EXPECTED RESULT
Recover the performance or behavior of Plasma 6.5. I think that was better.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.90
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.22.0
Qt Version: 6.11.0
Kernel Version: 6.18.5-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 22 × Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 155H
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30.9 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel® Arc
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 21KDS00600
System Version: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2026-01-16 18:31:06 UTC 
Are we talking about speed of results coming in, or their final order? Or their initial order changing from their final order?

A screen recording might be illustrative here.
Comment 2 Iyán M. V. 2026-01-16 18:36:23 UTC 
I have no issues with the final order of the results.

The problem is that the shown results change from the initial view and the final view. It's just a fraction of a second, but that's enough if you just type and press enter. I guess some muscle memory, and I will get used to wait a bit before pressing enter, but probably this is not the intended behavior.

By the way, I only notice the issue in my laptop. In my desktop it works just fine, the final order is shown directly, not in steps.

I will try to make a video with Plasma 6.6 Beta 1 and Plasma 6.5.5 so you see exactly what I mean.
Comment 3 Iyán M. V. 2026-01-17 13:41:38 UTC 
Here is a video comparing Plasma 6.5.5 with Plasma 6.1 Beta on my laptop. As I said, small difference, but enough to open wrong things when using just the keyboard (Super + Typing + Enter right away).

https://drive.switch.ch/index.php/s/YgKodEk0vzKfpXo