Mac Apps Not Opening or Slow Due to Apple Server Issues: How to Fix For Now

[MacRumors]

If you are seeing long delays in launching apps or being unable to open Mac Apps at all, this may be due to Apple having significant problems right now with their services.

Apple has noted on their status site that "Users may be experience issues with the service." We've seen reports that this is affecting launching apps when connected to the internet.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1326990296412991489

A forum user describes what they are experiencing:

This is the most bizzare problem. My Macbook slows to a crawl when WiFi is enabled. I'm not talking about internet speed, that is fine. But simply launching or using apps becomes extremely slow. Apps will bounce on the dock for 10 minutes before they load.

As soon as I turn off Wifi, everything goes back to normal.

For now, disabling internet connectivity will allow you to bypass the issue temporarily.

Article Link: Mac Apps Not Opening or Slow Due to Apple Server Issues: How to Fix For Now

 

[farewelwilliams]

here comes the Mac App Store bashers: "see, this is why we need open distribution of apps on Mac and iOS"

 

[LawJolla]

I just downloaded XCode 12.2 from the Mac App store in 6.5 minutes (11.8gb). Maybe things are coming back.

 

[loekf]

I just downloaded XCode 12.2 from the Mac App store in 6.5 minutes (11.8gb). Maybe things are coming back.

Nah, I updated Affinity as well an hour ago, before the hell broke loose.

They have distributed Bigs(l)ur via the Appstore, like couple of years ago.

 

[wlossw]

here comes the Mac App Store bashers: "see, this is why we need open distribution of apps on Mac and iOS"

This has broken all apps, not just app store apps. When a third party app is launched, and the Mac tries to phone home to verify it's not malware, It hangs.

 

[loekf]

So if I read the front page of MR correctly, you unplug your ethernet cable, start app and put it back.

Welcome to 2020... why does every app when it starts require a connection to an Apple server ? Is that normal ? I thought the check was only done once....

 

[ruimpinho]

COURAGE.

 

[uller6]

This is ridiculous. I have work to do and my machine is useless. I nearly reinstalled the entire OS from backup because I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

 

[s4yunkim]

It would seem like adding:

127.0.0.1 ocsp.apple.com

to your to your

/etc/hosts

file would temporarily stop this from being an issue without having to disconnect from WiFi entirely. Any reasons not to do this? file would temporarily stop this from being an issue without having to disconnect from WiFi entirely. Any reasons not to do this? (Obviously remove this after the issue is resolved)

 

[adamw]

Fix this please Apple. My Apps should work instantly, and not have to "phone home" every time.

 

[macsrcool1234]

It would seem like adding:

127.0.0.1 ocsp.apple.com

to your to your

/etc/hosts

file would temporarily stop this from being an issue without having to disconnect from WiFi entirely. Any reasons not to do this? file would temporarily stop this from being an issue without having to disconnect from WiFi entirely. Any reasons not to do this? (Obviously remove this after the issue is resolved)

yes but it's very important to undo this when things are stable again. hopefully apple will correct this failure to be more graceful in a future update.

 

[iPad Retina]

Happened just before my zoom meeting. that was fun.

 

[romaguyntx]

Also in the middle of working from home - I do customer service for a major chemical provider and answer the phone - OMG - everything just STOPPED. I restarted like 5 times. Today has not been good - this and the Big Sur update have been 1 big headache. ARghh!

 

[applicious84]

Apple the new, ahem, the old, microsoft

 

[ghostface147]

Friday the 13th, but on a Thursday.

 

[SkyRom]

I wonder what magic 47-syllable word Craig "The Hair Smile" Federighi will come up with to explain the "Instantiation" of this massive launch failure while lecturing us on why Touch Screens, LTE and a unified operating system are dumb ideas. *sigh*

 

[davidf18]

I am still not able to do the install.

I did fix the "slow" system problem people are reporting.

As a diagnostic, always restart the computer in safe mode and then restart the computer again in regular mode. That fixed the problem for me as it clears some caches, etc.

The Apple Instructions to boot in safe mode:
1. Power down the system
2. Wait 10 seconds
3. Power up while holding the shift key until the sign-on page appears.

 

[LawJolla]

Nah, I updated Affinity as well an hour ago, before the hell broke loose.

They have distributed Bigs(l)ur via the Appstore, like couple of years ago.

Nah, I'm talking 5 minutes ago.

 

[bumpylumpy]

If at all possible, try to have your network or sysadmin add ocsp.apple.com pointing to 0.0.0.0 at the router level, so if you have a company full of Macs you don't end up having to edit every single computer individually.

Also, it's easier when it's time to revert the change; you only have to change it one place. Just be sure to set a reminder to tell your network admin to remove this tomorrow when this is hopefully all fixed!

But I agree with everyone who says Apple needs to fix this on the client side - there is no reason a computer should be waiting for a network connection timeout to verify an application!

 

[jakeowens]

I made a comment thinking this was just people updaing to Big Sur. My bad, this is all Macs

 

[ghostface147]

I'm able to open apps now without any workarounds.

 

[macsrcool1234]

Not sure why there are people on here saying "this screwed up my work." This is the first version of a very new OS. You should be waiting to install this on work machines after a few update points or when you read that it's safe to do so with the apps you need. And THEN install it when you have some free time and a buffer of having to re-install the prior OS if everything doesn't work correctly.

clearly you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. this bug happens REGARDLESS if people have updated or not.

 

[contacos]

Why release betas the same time as a new public release. Fools

 

[bumpylumpy]

Not sure why there are people on here saying "this screwed up my work." This is the first version of a very new OS. You should be waiting to install this on work machines after a few update points or when you read that it's safe to do so with the apps you need. And THEN install it when you have some free time and a buffer of having to re-install the prior OS if everything doesn't work correctly.

This is happening on every one of my machines that are running Catalina and Mojave. None of these machines have been updated recently.

 

[TriBruin]

Not sure why there are people on here saying "this screwed up my work." This is the first version of a very new OS. You should be waiting to install this on work machines after a few update points or when you read that it's safe to do so with the apps you need. And THEN install it when you have some free time and a buffer of having to re-install the prior OS if everything doesn't work correctly.

You do realize this is affecting more than Big Sur downloads. The issue is that applications, when opening, can't connect to the server that validates application certificates. Therefore they either open slowly or won't open at all. That is why people are having trouble working.