Crazy Freezing On Mac

Support
1

# Bug Summary
Local WP intermittently freezes and becomes completely unresponsive, occasionally requiring a full system restart to regain functionality.

# Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install Local WP on a MacBook Pro with multiple macOS user accounts.
  2. Use Local WP under both users (not simultaneously).
  3. Switch between users or open Local WP on one user while it may have been previously opened on the other.
  4. Observe that Local WP begins to hang, freeze, or cause the entire system to slow down.
  5. In some cases, the system becomes so unresponsive that a full restart is required.

# Environment Info

  • Operating System: macOS [Include version, e.g., Ventura 13.5]
  • Hardware: MacBook Pro with sufficient resources (e.g., M1 Pro / 32GB RAM)
  • Web Stack: [Specify if using Nginx or Apache, and versions of PHP & MySQL—can be found in Local’s site settings]
  • Local WP Version: [Include version number, e.g., v8.2.0]

# Supporting Info

  • The issue seems correlated with having multiple macOS users who use Local WP.
  • A possible conflict may arise when switching users or having Local processes running in both.
  • System-wide freezing suggests potential process lockup, memory leak, or permissions issue when trying to access shared Local resources.
  • This is not a hardware issue; the MacBook Pro has ample specs.
3

Thank you for this report, @abder.

So far I’ve not been able to reproduce intermittent freezes or unresponsive UI in Local when using it logged into two macOS user accounts. I tried with both fast user switching and normal log out-and-in.

One thing to check is that you’re running the Apple Silicon version of Local on your M1 MBP. We’ve had reports of freezes and slow UI for users on Apple Silicon who were accidentally running the Intel version of Local.

You can check the Local app like this:

  1. Command-click the Local app icon in your dock (or otherwise browse to it in the Applications folder).

  2. Right-click the app icon and choose “Get Info”.

  3. You should see “Apple silicon” or “Intel” next to “kind”. If you do not see “Apple silicon”, download the latest Apple Silicon version from the Local releases page: https://localwp.com/releases/

    Local application type
    Local application type606×354 35.1 KB

I did run into other issues using Local from two macOS user accounts (such as 500 errors when viewing sites if Local was running in both sessions), but only when fast user switching. This is due to macOS sharing certain resources between user accounts, such as open ports and the /etc/hosts file. I found that logging out instead of fast-switching between users helped with these issues, since this quits Local in one user session before opening it in another.

4

Thanks a lot, it was indeed the issue, I don’t remember how I downloaded the intel version TBH

5

Thank you for letting us know this fixed things up for you @abder!