Sequoia 15.1 is slows iMessage & WhatsApp keyboard input

Really strange this issue exists for months now and no fix from either Apple or ESET.

The real fix is to disable ESET Real Time File System Protection (RTFSP) (or Sophos/other AV equivalent) and see if the issue is fixed.

If so, re-enable RTFSP and make a 'performance exclusion' for "/private/var/db/eligibilityd/eligibility.plist" as suggested by ESET staff. (Open the ESET console and press CMD + , to open a new menu)

For me the exclusion is good enough. Disabling the whole RTFSP feature is even faster, though less secure of course...

Haven't gotten to the end of the thread, so it may be suggested already. But I've found a solution, or better said a workaround.

1. Delete WhatsApp for Mac
2. Go in your browser (for me that's Chrome), go to WhatsApp Web and log in
3. Then you go to the 3 vertical dots in the upper right corner, go to Save & Share (or for me that's Casting, Saving & Sharing) > see screenshot (sorry it's in Dutch)
4. Click on Open in WhatsApp Webb

That created a shortcut in my dock, different colour than the usual app-icon, but it works and my god the delay is gone. So happy!

I believe this is a combination of things, combining to cause the slowdown, at least in WhatsApp

• Sequoia introduces Apple AI features, the library functions are present, but might not be authorised.
• The input widget is requesting AI features (perhaps so it can offer AI autocomplete, etc.)
• On systems where Apple AI isn't enabled, the system responds with a "not authorised"
• The input widget immediately tries again, and keeps trying again hundreds of times with no significant wait
• Each time it retries, it logs two lines to a file in /Users/johnhartnup/Library/Group Containers/group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.shared/Logs/WhatsApp_2/
• It seems as if each time it logs, it opens the file, writes, then closes the file
• If you have AV, it will scan the whole log file each time it is reopened

So, as you type, OSX is opening a file hundreds of times per second, and if you have AV, it's scanning the whole of that file, which can reach about 1MB, hundreds of times per second. No wonder it's slow.

Although the presence of the AI feature does trigger this, I'm not sure it's OSX's fault as such.

Fixes I can imagine include:

• WhatsApp and iMessage -- or a component they both use -- should not retry on "ai/manager/composer-new-chat-ai-status/disabled", or at least retry much less frequently
  • I suppose it's possible that an OSX component is responsible for this retry
• Don't log when this happens -- or at least, log it much less frequently
• Keep the log file open and keep appending to it, rather than open and close the log file for every line
• AV through some cleverness, notice the open/append/close pattern and avoid re-scanning parts you've already seen

lllusion wrote:

The workaround is to disable real-time file security in your antivirus/firewall software. Or, wait for the next macOS update that apparently has a fix.

Or, get rid of anti-virus software entirely. It's not necessary. And it frequently causes more problems than it claims it can solve.

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

I've been getting this too - disabled Apple Intelligence (which even as a heavy ChatGPT/Claude/Cursor/Copilot user I could find no practical use for) and all is back to normal.

I think the new Whatsapp client is far worse than the one it replaced last year (no CMD + K to switch chats - W_T_F!) but at least it doesn't feel like I'm running it on a PC from the early 90's any more

In my case I could fix it! The problem was Sophos endpoint, I uninstalled and the problem vanished.

15.2 has fixed the issue for me as well, thank god. Thanks to everyone who reported it to Apple.

The workaround is to disable real-time file security in your antivirus/firewall software. Or, wait for the next macOS update that apparently has a fix.

Accidentally found out the main reason for the laggy keyboard input is ESET.

When I had to re-install Mac OS and during a course of installation, ESET was deactivated. I had no issues on keyboard input on both WhatsApp and iMessage.

I am trying to performance exclusion on WhatsApp and iMessage, but I'm not sure which directory I should exclude.

Any idea on this?

I have deleted the AV (sophos) entirely and got 15.1.1. but ConnectTeam still has the same lag on text entry. Whatsapp and iMessage are no longer an issue.

When i disable ESET Dection Engine handmatic, it works fine..

i add an exclusion for Whatsapp en now have to wait.. if that is the solution

macOS 15.2 seems fixed the issue for me.

I disabled real-time scanning in ESET and it seems to have helped, I will test it further.

If it's worth for anyone, I had this issue until Sequoia 15.3.1, after that update WhatsApp is running just fine without hiccups, no need to disable any program (I have Sophos installed) nor Apple Intelligence (I have it on)

Finally, the Whatsapp issue is resolved in v15.3 update