AdGuard for Safari 1.3.4 CPU usage in idle

[ashmser]

Hi! I noticed that AdGuard for Safari application consumes about 5% of CPU when my MacBook is idle and Safari browser is not running. Is there a program bug that will be fixed?

 

[Chinaski]

@ashmser
Hello there!
Please send screenshots of activity monitor.

 

[ashmser]

Hi! Screenshot is attached.

 

[Chinaski]

It is possible that you just updated filters. Please make a measurement for a longer period of time.

 

[ashmser]

Attached measurement for a longer time. The issue is still there. Also I checked another Mac with older AdGuard for Safari version 1.2.1, it did not load CPU in idle, however after updating to 1.3.4 it also started to consume 3-5% of CPU.

 

[Chinaski]

Please try to reproduce on this version!

 

[ashmser]

Sorry for delay. Installed 1.4.1 from AppStore, the issue is still there

 

[Tim Kite]

I'm seeing the same issue on two Macs, both running the latest AdGuard for Safari (1.4.1) and the latest Mojave (10.14.6). It's actually somewhat worse on the laptop (2015 13" MBP), which ends up noticeably draining my battery. I'm not sure if it's to the point that browsing websites without AdGuard would consume less battery than AdGuard itself (I only block trackers and coin miners), but if I'm not browsing the web, quitting AdGuard makes a noticeable improvement in battery life.

2015 13" MBP:


2014 5K iMac:

 

[Chinaski]

Hello!
Well... we need to check log files.
Please send it to PM.
Log files must locate at ~/Library/Logs/

 

[Tim Kite]

The only logs I see for AdGuard in there are AdvancedBlocking crash reports under DiagnosticReports, the most recent of which is from July 17, and then only on the iMac. There are no AdGuard logs on the MBP. Do I need to enable logging first somehow, or are those the logs you're looking for?

 

[Chinaski]

Look at the screenshot, please.

 

[Tim Kite]

Ah, that's in the app itself, in /Applications/AdGuard for Safari/Contents/Library/LoginItems/. I assume that's how the app sets itself to run on login? What do I need to do with that?

 

[Chinaski]

I'm sorry.
Provided not quite correct information.
You need to type in the search ~/Library
Then proceed to /logs/AdGuard for safari

 

[Tim Kite]

Hmm, there doesn't appear to be a folder (or file) named "AdGuard for Safari" in my user logs folder (see attached).
I did discover that if only the extension named "AdGuard" is enabled, basic blocking works and the actual background app doesn't need to run unless I want to check for updates, which works around the CPU issues. That does prevent advanced rules from working (and automatic rule update checking), but it's a good enough workaround for now.

 

[ashmser]

Is background app required for AdGuard Advanced Blocking? For the sake of performance and reliability I would prefer blocking via Apple's native Content Blocking API only without any stand-alone bells and whistles. Can I achieve this by disabling Advanced Blocking extension? Will AdGuard generate errors because it can't process advanced filters without Advanced extension?

 

[Tim Kite]

Is background app required for AdGuard Advanced Blocking? For the sake of performance and reliability I would prefer blocking via Apple's native Content Blocking API only without any stand-alone bells and whistles. Can I achieve this by disabling Advanced Blocking extension? Will AdGuard generate errors because it can't process advanced filters without Advanced extension?

I'll let the experts answer that in detail, but in my experience the standard API-based rules (not the advanced rules) work with AdGuard not running and do block ads/trackers/etc. They just aren't quite as good and can't do fancy stuff, and you can't add/modify rules on the fly. I don't notice a performance difference with them on vs. off, just the battery drain with them on. Hopefully there will be an update soon to address that!