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Does InVision Studio lag for anybody else really bad?

over 5 years ago from , UI/UX Designer

I keep coming back to InVision Studio every now and again because I do actually want to use it for a more cohesive/streamlined workflow.

Just updated to the latest version and I still get really bad lag. Even just dragging a 200x200 square on a completely blank artboard. It has to "catch up" with the cursor.

I'm hoping (and guessing) I'm not the only one this happens to?

I'm running it on a 5k 27" 2015 iMac. 3.2GHz Intel i5 with 16GB RAM and an AMD Radeon R9 graphics card.

64 comments

  • Brennan Smith, over 5 years ago

    Yes, it was unbearable for me to use. They need to concentrate on the performance aspect before anything else.

    16 points
    • , over 5 years ago

      Same here. I open Studio, create the most simple artboard imaginable, it lags and I close Studio.

      Eat, sleep, repeat :(

      1 point
  • Andrew C, over 5 years ago

    I wish they'd stop touting it as the world's most powerful screen design tool. Sketch kicks its butt—and Illustrator outperform both of them. "Most powerful" isn't the same as "most usable". Sketch figured that out. Figma too.

    They really haven't earned that level of hyperbole yet—from almost any homegrown product (prototyping was amazing circa 2015 and has since languished behind feature creep and thirsty roadmap).

    I truly wish you guys luck in figuring this out but you kind of dug your own grave here (Not to be outdone I suspect the team behind Phase has the same over-hype problem, btw)

    13 points
    • Lucian .esLucian .es, over 5 years ago

      Yeah right, Sketch 5.1 is as buggy as Invision Studio in early access. Just look at the release notes: 3 features, 100 bug fixes introduced in previous updates.

      I really like how Invision is moving in this landscape, and I hope they win the market because I never liked Bohemian Coding.

      It's all about the community, and Invision really listens and prioritizes features based on feedback, and also does a bunch of things for the design community in general. Also, their design talent is far superior ;)

      1 point
      • Ivo MynttinenIvo Mynttinen, over 5 years ago

        because I never liked Bohemian Coding

        How different opinions can be... I think inVision is building mostly bloated products that don't even come close to (todays) Sketchs stability.

        10 points
        • Chris BuenoChris Bueno, over 5 years ago

          I agree with you wholeheartedly. I cannot believe anyone would get the impression that InVision listens to the community. Their prototyping capabilities have been essentially the same since 2015, with known issues still there. It's unnerving.

          8 points
          • Duke CavinskiDuke Cavinski, over 5 years ago

            I’ve requested features years ago that have been “in the pipeline” but never come to fruition. Meanwhile they keep acquiring companies and talent to do...what?

            2 points
        • Andrew C, over 5 years ago

          Yeah exactly how I feel. Sketches new version releases aren’t great, but I just wait a week and things are back to normal. Low cost to me.

          0 points
          • Lucian .esLucian .es, over 5 years ago

            Maybe to you, but recent updates made Abstract files unusable, causing lots of troubles in big teams. Also 5.0 just crashed whenever I opened certain files, so I had to downgrade.

            High cost to me ;)

            0 points
            • Account deleted over 5 years ago

              It's not Bohemian's job to make sure every plugin is compatible. I've been using sketch for over four years, for at least 40 hours a week, on several different machines and I keep hearing about how buggy it is, and I have only ever encountered the most minor of bugs that in no way impede my ability to do work, and 99% of the time that there is a bug it is because of some plugin.

              2 points
              • Lucian .esLucian .es, over 5 years ago

                So the plugins are not a unique selling point for Sketch and Bohemian coding? Competition in the tool market is actually good for designers. So let's keep it constructive ;)

                0 points
                • Account deleted over 5 years ago

                  Of course they are, however it is impossible to make sure every plugin works with your product. Obviously competition is good and I don't think I've ever said otherwise. Also, just because someone corrects you when you're wrong about something doesn't mean it isn't constructive ;)

                  0 points
                  • Andrew C, over 5 years ago

                    Bohemian also releases their beta well ahead of their general releases. If your app relies on importing Sketch files as a matter of course that's plenty of time to see the changes and react. The industry seems to adapt fairly quickly after new versions go out if they're active — hours and day(s) not weeks.

                    Much the same as Todd I've never had any crippling Sketch bugs. I hear some people do but I suspect they're the vocal minority.

                    1 point
                  • Lucian .esLucian .es, over 5 years ago

                    I'm just stating my experience with Sketch (+ Abstract which is a key plugin in my workflow). Why are you assuming I'm wrong and why do you feel the need to correct me?

                    I feel this is going offtopic, so let's focus on work ;)

                    0 points
                    • Account deleted over 5 years ago

                      I'm correcting you because you're saying sketch is buggy then blaming it on plugins, which isn't sketch's fault.

                      0 points
                      • Lucian .esLucian .es, over 5 years ago

                        Must be a pleasure working with you :)))))

                        0 points
                        • Account deleted over 5 years ago

                          You can look on linkedin and see my references if you're interested :) It must be great working with you when you get proven wrong and start going on random tangents about how bad it is to work with someone. Have a neat day!

                          1 point
      • Andrew C, over 5 years ago

        I don’t think Studios beta launch woes is any reflection on the talent at InVision. They just tend to overhype and their roadmap is a zombie nightmare lacking narrative or focus. Most of Sketch’s release troubles stem from causing plugin failure. It’s disingenuous to say Sketch isn’t performant compared to Studio.

        I feel Sketch listens and addresses our pains better than most companies. A cheaper product that’s kind to freelancers because it continues to work even if you don’t renew your license — which is directly against a monthly lock in Saas model Adobe and others use.

        They also provided an open file format which enabled Zeplin and other great web-based design services.

        InVision built freehand, boards, a merch marketplace, acquired DSM, Craft, and Waze — what do I do with this stuff? How do I even use this? I didn’t ask for any of this. At least Inspect and Studio I GET how they fit in to my life.

        So we disagree fundamentally on what a company listening looks like.

        3 points
  • Duke CavinskiDuke Cavinski, over 5 years ago

    For me, a major design tool needs to be around for a few years before I even consider using the thing. I don't know how else to navigate this flooded landscape.

    12 points
  • Mr FannybatterMr Fannybatter, over 5 years ago

    I used Invision for years to prototype. Long sessions were generally laggy somewhat. I expect much the same, if not worse for Studio.

    Figma though...

    10 points
  • Paul HermannPaul Hermann, over 5 years ago

    Studio is as bad as their web services for me. Not a real surprise.

    7 points
  • Kris PuckettKris Puckett, over 5 years ago

    Hey Ryan! Bummed it’s so laggy for you! We are working crazy hard on Studio’s performance. What machine are you running it on? I would love to connect you with someone from our Studio team to dig into the issue. It so important for us that Studio is crazy fast.

    Kris with InVision

    6 points
    • , over 5 years ago

      Hey Kris. I'm running it on a 5k 27" 2015 iMac. 3.2GHz Intel i5 with 16GB RAM and an AMD Radeon R9 graphics card.

      2 points
      • Lucian .esLucian .es, over 5 years ago

        Had some performance issues on my mbp 15' 2017, 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7, 16gb ram, Radeon Pro 560 4096 MB..

        I CAN RUN FORTNITE ON THIS THING :))

        2 points
  • GOOD LUCKGOOD LUCK, over 5 years ago

    This is totally understandable.

    Like the other fake/web-based "apps" f.e. figma, framer, the performance is the issue. The problem is with the BRIDGE constantly processing information back and forward (especially animations), so when you are dragging something (like the artboard - OMG!), the whole calculations are done in the js side. After the processing is complete the data going to the native site via the BRIDGE. This is happening for every FPS. So you should feel that the apps are slower, and also less responsive. This is the primary concern of the technology, so don't expect they will fix that in near days/weeks ;)

    This is why I don't use design software based on the web technology (If I don't have to), it looks excellent on marketing images, but in the real world scenario, it's unusable. I have tested all of them using MacPro (trashcan), hi-end MBP and many iMacs (not the iMac Pro tho), same results. If you are ok with the performance FLAWS, God bless you :) those are great apps.

    Have you ever wonder why those companies/products like Framer, inVision Studio always making "presentation events" and not releasing the product itself to the public? (to us, designers to evaluate right away the product). That is why they need to persuade decision makers, team principles, you by sales talks (face to face). They acquiring industry faces to promote their products, etc. Marketing. Otherwise, everyone would shape their opinion based on firs feel, and that would be the end of those products.

    Just imagine, how awesome those apps would be as a native app (SWIFT for the macOS), that would be amazing considering what those apps can do.

    Slack (similar technology) is also slow and shitty, but you are not using it so heavily as you would use the design software (sketch, photoshop, etc.), so it can be slow. This technology is excellent, but for the right cases.

    Hope in the near future those CRAPs will perform as they should (I wish that will finally happen!). And I know there are fantastic people behind those apps (the team of inVision, and Framer - love them all), they can do that! We need to give them time and wait for the better times.

    So no, you don't need a better mac, you need to wait a bit until the technology is more mature ;)

    Peace!

    5 points
  • Jonathan SimcoeJonathan Simcoe, over 5 years ago

    Studio is the laggiest design software I've ever used. By far. It is completely unusable.

    They are pitching their "design platform" / API but nobody will use a product this slow and unreliable.

    5 points
  • Ryan Hicks, over 5 years ago

    100% can barely do anything in it. Opened it up for the beta and immediately closed it when I experienced this. Haven't opened it since.

    4 points
  • Tim Hoste, over 5 years ago

    I have the same problem. Animating the most simple shapes everything ends up laggy and jumping around on a MacBookPro from late 2015 that shouldn't happen especially when sketch and other programs work so much smoother. I want to use studio but the laggy-ness kills my workflow and productivity.

    3 points
  • Geffrey van der BosGeffrey van der Bos, over 5 years ago

    Oh for sure. I won't use Studio for that exact reason.

    2 points
  • Bart S, over 5 years ago

    I was so excited for Studio, I went to the demo in Amsterdam and waited quite a time for my invite to come in. And when it finally came in, I experienced all of this. Opened it a few times after that, still mostly the same. Never really used it either because of this. This is on a fully specced out MBP 15" 2017.

    2 points
  • Pablo StanleyPablo Stanley, over 5 years ago

    Hey, Ryan. It sucks that you're having this experience with Studio. What you're describing sounds really bizarre—dragging a simple shape shouldn't be lagging.

    Could you tell me more about your system and the version of the app you have installed? Does this happen every time you create a new file or with a specific document? Maybe this can help us decipher what the problem could be.

    We started a Facebook group where the team and the community using Studio is pretty active responding to questions. Maybe you wanna share your story there too.

    2 points
    • , over 5 years ago

      Hey Pablo, major fan of your work!

      I'm running it on a 5k 27" 2015 iMac. 3.2GHz Intel i5 with 16GB RAM and an AMD Radeon R9 graphics card.

      Version 0.93.10 (latest I believe).

      I haven't tested it a lot to be fair - I expected simple documents to just work.

      I have 9 days off work from tomorrow so I'll play about with it a little more and inform you and Kris (commented above) of the outcome.

      0 points
      • Pablo StanleyPablo Stanley, over 5 years ago

        Thanks for letting us know, Ryan. It looks like you have a really good setup—Studio should work fine. Could you do me a favor? Whenever you have the time, could you test Studio on your monitor and then compare the performance on your laptop alone? I have a suspicion that it might be the 5k resolution what is causing the lagging...

        Again, thanks for giving it a try, man!

        0 points
        • , over 5 years ago

          I thought this may have been the case too! I will download Studio on my MacBook when I'm home tonight.

          I'll let you know how I get on in the next couple of days!

          And no problem. I want to use this tool, and I'm confident you guys will get there with it!

          0 points
        • louie solomonlouie solomon, over 5 years ago

          I also noticed a dramatic performance difference when using Studio on my Macbook alone compared to with a 4k monitor plugged in.

          0 points
  • Artyom Sklyarov, over 5 years ago

    Yeah it's been very bad lately. What is most frustrating that it is lagging on my iMac (2011), but it is working. On my Macbook Pro (2017) it does not load at all. I just stare on the loading thing forever.

    2 points
    • Stephen OlmsteadStephen Olmstead, over 5 years ago

      Hey Artyom- would love to get some system specs on both of your machines and figure whats going on here. Not loading on MBP 2017 shouldn't be a thing at all. If you can hit me up with tech specs of each I'd love to get this over to our eng team asap- hit me here stephen[at]invisionapp.com. Sorry for the troubles in meantime, looking forward to getting to the bottom of this for you.

      0 points
  • Aaron Wears Many HatsAaron Wears Many Hats, over 5 years ago

    You know what doesn't lag for me?

    The Adobe Suite.

    whistles

    1 point
  • ja krish, over 5 years ago

    Pros and Cons: I really love this product since it made my animation practising easy. Most of the time I feel the product is bloated. Auto Link Layers in the animate window is not working since my last update. When I try to import file from Sketch It doesn't support blur and blending mode values. Prototypes are showing more latency while running in the app previewer.

    Added Feature: Currently animation within a component cannot be done but adding such feature would greatly help for micro interaction where the animation doesn't have to rely at artboard levels(this feature is available in Principle app)

    1 point
    • Bryan Zavestoski, over 5 years ago

      RE: 'Auto Link Layers' not appearing in the current build... It's a confirmed bug that they're aware of, but for now you can hide the inspector (Command+Option+2) to view it.

      0 points
  • Remus Baltariu, over 5 years ago

    It's a beta program. What do you expect?

    It's a WIP product, more than the others are. What I usually do: check if there are any new updates to the Studio, make some artboards, animate them, see the current situation and close. And that's all. Check where's the progress on their work. At least they didn't do as Adobe did with XD. Make it official, something that can't really be used in production work.

    1 point
    • Julian H, over 5 years ago

      Yeah, but often times beta (and therefore lightweight) software runs a lot quicker than softwares that were crammed with features over time. XD for example was extremely fast when the beta was made public. That's why I'm afraid it might even get worse.

      2 points
      • Sam AndersonSam Anderson, over 5 years ago

        Don't worry, XD will stay blazing fast. We are dedicated to delivering a performant product. :) And new features every month. If you haven't tried it out in a while, give it a go and I'd love to hear your feedback.

        0 points
  • Julian H, over 5 years ago

    It's not just classical lags but just very low fps when moving around artboards and dragging elements. And low fps lead to a lower speed of user inputs (as the user adapts to slow software), making it just inefficient no matter the clever features it has.

    1 point
  • Allen WangAllen Wang, over 5 years ago

    It was built with Electron, which has very unsteady performance on macOS. Hopefully, they can build it with native completely, like Sketch.

    1 point
  • Xavier BertelsXavier Bertels, over 5 years ago

    What hardware are you using?

    1 point
    • , over 5 years ago

      I'm running it on a 5k 27" 2015 iMac. 3.2GHz Intel i5 with 16GB RAM and an AMD Radeon R9 graphics card.

      0 points
      • Xavier BertelsXavier Bertels, over 5 years ago

        I’ve heard the automatic graphics card switching in macOS might cause the issue. You could try to run https://gfx.io, set it to one graphics card (onboard or dedicated GPU) and see if the problem goes away.

        0 points
  • Dan W, over 5 years ago

    I used Studio for one fairly complex project on a 2015 MP Pro with no performance issues at all, found the whole experience to be pretty good. Missed some of my sketch plugins but that's about it.

    0 points
  • Ed FairmanEd Fairman, over 5 years ago

    Yep, really badly. I also get a strange blackout when flipping windows, which means I have to close and reopen the app (it happens a lot). Additionally, I get strange bugs on selecting elements, and the undo doesn't always work.

    Obviously, it's still in Beta, so it's going to happen - they need to progressively smooth out the creases. For me though, it's too buggy to use as my primary prototyping tool, so I'm sticking with Sketch.

    0 points
    • Ryan Stephen, 5 years ago

      I just excitedly built a prototype with motion animations to show the team a new idea. Super lag on a top end 2015 MBP. Animations are so choppy that the team just asked "is it going to look like that?". Total visual fail. Rebuilt the whole damn UI in After Effects because I haven't mastered Framer yet.

      I get that its Beta but I wasted a lot of time trying to get it to work right.

      0 points
  • Nelson TarucNelson Taruc, over 5 years ago

    I had occasional performance issues a while back (the app cranked up the fans on the MBP) but it seems to be much better since then. Fired it up today with no lag at all on a 2015 MBP.

    0 points
  • Curtis EstridgeCurtis Estridge, over 5 years ago

    Running fine for me on a 2015 Macbook Pro. I might just be used to objects lagging behind my mouse because its like that in sketch too.

    0 points
  • juhi sodanijuhi sodani, over 5 years ago

    Yes absolutely, performance is very low of Invision Studio. The software looks really good, especially the dark interface which I personally prefer. But overall its difficult to perform simple tasks.

    For example: I created a group of layers and turned that into a symbol, but then I wanted to ungroup it and add some other details. The software completely distorted all the layers once I ungrouped it.

    I just exited the software after that.

    0 points
    • Pablo StanleyPablo Stanley, over 5 years ago

      Hey, Juhi!

      We're aware of the problem you're describing. This behavior is totally not cool and we're working on releasing a fix soon. Hopefully, when we get this working (and other bugs we've been finding) you give Studio another chance ❤️

      2 points
      • Jonathan SimcoeJonathan Simcoe, over 5 years ago

        Wait! You're at InVision now? When did this happen.

        1 point
        • Pablo StanleyPablo Stanley, over 5 years ago

          Hey, man! Yeah, I started a couple of months ago :D I joined the Studio Platform team. We're working with makers creating apps for Studio using our API. It's gonna be dope!

          0 points