On a low-spec tablet running Lubuntu, LibreOffice and Brave installed as Snaps took a long time to open. Switching to Flatpak seemed much faster. Is that a common difference, or does it depend on the app and system?
Is Flatpak usually quicker than Snap on older hardware?
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brassmarmot
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It can depend a lot on the machine and the particular app. A slow first launch can involve disk speed, available memory, background startup work, or how that package is built. Both formats can add some startup overhead, so one comparison is not enough to say Flatpak will always win.
If you want a useful test, compare the same app versions and note both the first launch and later launches. Also check whether the system is short on memory or doing heavy disk activity.
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There are technical reasons the formats can behave differently at startup. Snap packages use a compressed, mounted image, while Flatpak apps use shared runtimes and a different setup. That can affect launch time, but the result varies with the app, storage, and system. The sandbox by itself is not a reliable explanation for a slow launch.
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For a modest machine, I’d try the package that opens smoothly and keep using it. If your distribution offers a native package, that is another option to compare. No need to turn one sluggish app into a rule about every Snap or every Flatpak.
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borrowedatlas:
Good point about first versus later launches. On an older device, storage speed and memory pressure can make a bigger difference than the packaging format alone.