Bug 511348 - Typing too fast causes the results to not refresh in time
Summary: Typing too fast causes the results to not refresh in time
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: krunner
Classification: Plasma
Component: general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: unspecified
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords: efficiency-and-performance
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-10-30 00:33 UTC by jeuamix
Modified: 2025-11-12 20:15 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

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Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


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Description jeuamix 2025-10-30 00:33:24 UTC
SUMMARY
When searching for an app, typing too fast causes the results to not refresh in time. For example, typing “firefox” quickly and pressing Enter might open Filelight instead, since the search is still showing results for “fi” instead of “firefox”.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Open the search menu.
2. Quickly type the name of an app (e.g. “firefox”) and press Enter right away.
3. Observe which app launches.

OBSERVED RESULT
The wrong app opens because the search results didn’t refresh in time (e.g. Filelight instead of Firefox).

EXPECTED RESULT
Search results should update instantly, and the correct app should open even if the user types quickly.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Fedora Linux 42
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.19.0
Qt Version: 6.9.2
Kernel Version: 6.17.4-200.fc42.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core Processor
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30,9 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
Product Name: MS-7D75
System Version: 1.0
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2025-10-30 16:55:29 UTC
I can reproduce the issue. Maybe we can speed up search result display a bit here.

However expectations may need to be tempered; "Search results should update instantly" is an asymptotic ideal, not something that can be guaranteed, due to the vagaries of your hardware and the data set it has to search through. There will probably always be a few cases where the results list will update more slowly than a very fast typist can type.
Comment 2 jeuamix 2025-10-30 17:46:42 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> I can reproduce the issue. Maybe we can speed up search result display a bit
> here.
> 
> However expectations may need to be tempered; "Search results should update
> instantly" is an asymptotic ideal, not something that can be guaranteed, due
> to the vagaries of your hardware and the data set it has to search through.
> There will probably always be a few cases where the results list will update
> more slowly than a very fast typist can type.

That's fair. At the very least, I believe pressing enter should wait for the search query to finish before opening the selected item. 
So "Search results should first finish before processing the Enter key, ensuring the intended searched application by the user is opened" would be a better expected result?
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-10-31 17:57:30 UTC
Could make sense. There are probably a few things that could be done to improve the UX in addition to any performance improvements.
Comment 4 kde 2025-11-12 20:15:45 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #3)
> Could make sense. There are probably a few things that could be done to
> improve the UX in addition to any performance improvements.

I think it makes a lot of sense from a user expectation standpoint.

if I type "fir<enter>" I would expect to get the same result every time (unless a new app is installed which is a better match). Currently the result is effectively random depending on how fast I type and how busy my CPU is, unless I force myself to stop and wait for the UI to catch up. 

I would 100% not mind if there's a delay between me pressing enter and krunner actually launching the app, I just want it to actually launch the thing I was expecting. The time cost of "the machine is now launching the wrong app" is orders of magnitude higher than waiting for krunner to finish its query.