Keyboard lag when typing messages in iMessage

I am surprised to see that this weird bug still persists. And, I am experiencing it on the 2017 15" MacBook Pro maxed out model running macOS Sierra. I used a Time Machine backup in order to transfer everything from my older Mac. But turning off Calls from iPhone did the trick. Also, I did not notice the lag even after I turned it back on after a restart. Thanks for the tip!

Hi,

I cannot do Handoff with my current Mac.

However as SMS Forwarding and Handoff rely on the two devices being on the same Network does either device has an issue with staying connected to the LAN ?

The Handoff process is trying to make sure it is "written" on both devices.

Don't forget the iPhone is not likely to be as fast as the Mac and it will not be helped if the LAN is also busy.

9:53 pm Sunday; November 1, 2015

Hi,

The Satellite TV service I use uses the internet to connect to their On Demand servers.

I have two set top boxes that are capable of streaming HD content.

I have three Macs, there are 4 iPhone and 3 iPads in the house.

I have three Computers that are On (even though I am mainly using the iMac and reading the news on the MacBook Pro.

My son also has a Macbook Pro.

On top of that there is an X Box one that is sometime playing games and two TV that are also capable of Internet streaming (and are connected).

Whilst I don't think I have a lot of use my son's gaming or TV usage or my wife's TV catch ups can effect what is going on without me realising.

I know it defeats what the app and the Handoff is supposed to do but does the text also appear slow on the iPhone ? (when you are typing on the Mac)

Is it slow in the other direction, either to show in the iPhone or on the Mac.

If both are slow it is more likely to be something about the network.

If one is slow it is going to be about the app on that device.

However other than suggesting that you Turn it Off and reset it I don't have anything else as I can't test it myself.

10:14 pm Sunday; November 1, 2015

This worked for me: Facetime preferences: turn off calls through cellular. Instantly the typing lag vanished.

I have tried everything in this thread and have called Apple Support two times. The problem persists.

My efforts to resolve this stubborn problem:

Booted to SAFE

Cleared temporary memory: CMD+OPT+P+R

Turned off WiFi calling

Deleted auto-login apps through users & groups

Re-installed El Capitan

And deleted two config files I found from another, older thread.

Apple Support does not know what to do next. I am experiencing this on a Macbook Pro and Mac Mini. It is not hardware and does not occur on any other application; just Message.

Frustrated!

Did you try: Facetime preferences: turn off calls through cellular. That worked for me and the problem has not reoccurred.

Yes, thanks, I tried this recommendation but the problem persists. This is quite frustrating. I turned on activity monitor to watch system activities during a lag episode but nothing was evident in the data.

Hi,

Is Spell Check On in the Edit Menu ?

In System Preferences > Languages and Region is it set to the region you are in ?

Does this match the Keyboard settings ?

Some people will list say the UK in the first but another language in the Keyboard preferences.

In some apps there are ways of selecting or adding to a Personal Dictionary such as adding Apple type iWords like iChat and iPod to accept the second letter capital and leading "i".

I can't seem to find the way this is enabled in Messages but I am wondering if your Mac has lost contact with this Dictionary ?

9:33 pm Saturday; December 19, 2015

Ralph,

Thank you for your great response.

I check every item you listed, to verify the proper setting. All good.

I think I have fixed this problem. We recently moved our corporate email to Google Apps. This forced an account change on all my iDevices; iPhone, iMac, and Macbook Pro. I believe the lag was iMessage trying to sync both accounts; the old one and the new G App account. When I turned off the old account, the lag stopped. Also, I recently turned on WiFi calling on my iPhone because my cell service at home is poor. When I did this, I allowed WiFi calling on all my other iDevices, which I have now disabled, with the exception of my iPhone ONLY (6+).

As an IT professional myself, I rarely make multiple changes at the same time because I am not 100% certain, which of these two changes, actually corrected the problem. Apple wanted me to re-download EC and re-install OS X but I couldn't see the benefit of that since the lag was occurring on my Macbook, as well as, my Mac Mini.

Thanks again for your thorough response.

Dana

Hi,

Glad you found the answer.

Of the two, I think the multiple sync for the Contacts App is the answer.

It is a known issue that if you have two accounts say iCloud and Yahoo or Google trying to all sync at the same time then Messages may not actually launch or have major issues displaying Contacts if it does launch.

I don't think I have seen a thread like yours before where it seems to have got past those parts so I had not really considered it

7:35 pm Sunday; December 20, 2015

I experienced the same issue (major lag while typing in Messages after upgrading to 10.11.2) and can confirm it's related to contacts sync. I initially eliminated the issue by disabling "Contacts" sync in the iCloud system preferences panel, but need my contacts to sync, so did a little more poking around. I then found that my Google Apps CardDAV was enabled in the Contacts App (Contacts > Preferences > Accounts). As soon as I disabled the Google Apps CardDAV, the lag stopped. Not ideal, since I'd still like to sync my Google Apps contacts, but at least I now have my iCloud contacts and can use the Messages app without wanting to completely rip my hair out. Thanks for the tips in this thread!

You are welcome.

8:07 pm Saturday; January 9, 2016

Can also confirm, Google CardDAV enabled (contacts) is the culprit. This is happened on my 2015 15" rMBP high end model, a maxed out late-2013 iMac and my sons late-2013 13" rMBP.

Hi

Are you suggesting that it is not the fact two or more account are active in Contacts, but that it is the activation of the Google one that causes the issue ?

My suggestions so far have been it has been due to multiple accounts being active in Contacts - an issue that seems to develop from the System Preferences that seems to turn On all options for Internet account whether they were On or not in Yosemite.

8:03 pm Thursday; March 3, 2016