Memory Leak when switching conversations on 1.40.1, MacOS 11.2.x #4808

sgreadly · 2021-01-13T04:07:35Z

I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

Bug Description

Hi,

I noticed Signal App v1.39.4 on Mac Mini, Big Sur 11.1 (20C69), seems to be leaking memory at a fast rate when you switch from one conversation to another.

While writing this, it was around 1.4GB, and now it's up to 1.7GB.

The best way I can reproduce this, is when I switch between the group conversations I have (possibly all chats including individual ones too). I.e., click on the next conversation, and memory climbs up. Then 3rd, climbs again, 4th, etc.. click on 1st again, still climbs even more.

I found a few similar bugs but they're either closed, or on older versions / different platform.

Steps to Reproduce

Click on one conversation
Click on another
Keep doing that.

Actual Result:

Memory leaks around ~10-90MB per iteration.

Expected Result:

Memory to not leak or climb continuously.

Screenshots

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Platform Info

Signal Version: v1.39.4

Operating System: Mac Mini 2014, Big Sur 11.1 (20C69)

Linked Device Version: iPhone XS Max, iOS 14.3, running Signal 5.1.0.31

Link to Debug Log

https://debuglogs.org/465d352c490af66a0f09cf278c5e9152cdcee98a35875fe636d05f0f98261114

Edit: up to 1.81GB now.

Let me know if you need anything else. Ta.

chiraag-nataraj · 2021-01-13T17:41:34Z

I see similar behavior on Debian (x86_64) running Signal-Desktop 1.39.4. Does switching conversations also become slow?

sgreadly · 2021-01-13T18:51:36Z

I see similar behavior on Debian (x86_64) running Signal-Desktop 1.39.4. Does switching conversations also become slow?

Sluggish, yes.. but it's an old-ish Mac Mini with limited resources anyway ^_^

EvanHahn-Signal · 2021-01-13T19:17:16Z

Thanks for reporting. We'll take a look.

For what it's worth, I've looked into this a few times and was unable to find any obvious culprit. In fact, I noticed memory go back down after the garbage collector ran, which can sometimes take a long time. But I know we have memory leaks somewhere, and this is a helpful lead.

sgreadly · 2021-01-13T21:52:49Z

I can see garbage collection in effect mainly with the Steam Helper (Renderer). That climbs up several hundred megs when you're scrolling through the history of a conversation, and eventually drops down (good!).

Edit: I noticed a notification for v1.39.5 so I upgraded & restarted. Signal daemon also still leaks at a slow rate when I switch between conversations. Around 1MB - 50MB per iteration.

Currently sitting at 510MB usage. Edit: 620MB.

Not sure if it helps, but here's a sample from yesterday's around 1.5GB, and now around 520MB.

Sample of Signal v1.39.4.txt
Sample of Signal v1.39.5.txt

If there's anything else I can provide let me know. Hope this helps and thanks for your support!

UltraWelfare · 2021-01-14T12:06:47Z

Tried on Arch and it really goes up when rapidly switching between conversations up to 5-8mb per switch. But after some time the GC kicks in and removes most of it...
I tried recording a memory snapshot with the developer tools and I didn't find anything suspicious in terms of a memory leak...

sgreadly · 2021-01-14T20:22:15Z

Good to know!

I have a feeling, either GC isn't kicking in for OSX, or it's not properly doing what it should be doing :/

I hope devs have enough info in this report to narrow down or isolate the issue.

UltraWelfare · 2021-01-14T20:33:05Z

Good to know!

I have a feeling, either GC isn't kicking in for OSX, or it's not properly doing what it should be doing :/

I hope devs have enough info in this report to narrow down or isolate the issue.

Using the App for a day or so and I'm switching conversations but the app always stays ~300-500MB max... I'm not sure if it's a bug only recurring for Mac from the electron side or the Mac side. Definitely needs some more investigation and reports to see if other people have problems too.

sgreadly · 2021-03-03T21:41:27Z

Just to confirm, this seems reproducible on an M1 Macbook Air, with 1.40.1.

I had a hunch earlier if maybe this was related to the old conversation version, but I recreated them to the new conversations and still have the same leak.

This happens with both 1-1 and group conversations, when switching between them.

ghost · 2021-03-21T16:01:18Z

Hi,
I can confirm high memory usage. Big Sur 11.2.3, Apple M1, Signal 1.40.1:

starvational · 2021-03-21T18:15:20Z

I'm also on Big Sur 11.2.3 and seeing high memory utilization >1GB. Mac Mini (Late 2014). Signal v1.40.1

therealtomg · 2021-03-21T23:20:30Z

Also here to confirm high memory use, I'm on Big Sur 11.2.3 - 15-inch MacBook Pro 2017. Signal v.1.40.1.

chiraag-nataraj · 2021-04-19T18:29:48Z

I can reproduce fairly easily just through normal use, and this is on Debian sid/experimental. What should I capture and post here once I see it happen again? @EvanHahn-Signal, if you can tell me what I should share in order to help pin this down, I can provide whatever information you need, since this happens quite regularly for me.

[edit]
Desktop version: 5.0.0
Linked device: Samsung Galaxy S7, Android 8.0.0, Signal version 5.7.6.

chiraag-nataraj · 2021-04-20T19:36:51Z

@EvanHahn-Signal, Signal-Desktop is currently using 23% of my RAM according to htop, and based on cgroup statistics (I run signal-desktop through a systemd unit), it's currently using 3.9GB.

What can I provide to help debug this? I'm running release as I mentioned in my comment above.

EvanHahn-Signal · 2021-04-21T14:15:24Z

We've spent a lot of time trying to find these memory leaks but don't have a clear reproduction. Are you able to reproduce this by switching conversations repeatedly? Or is it something else?

sgreadly · 2021-04-21T20:32:49Z

@EvanHahn-Signal

Yep. Simply switching from one conversation to the other will trigger the leak. The more you do, the higher it gets.

I can still repro this on Signal App (Mac) v5.0.0. Refer to earlier comments of mine for more details if it helps.

Edit: Would having a debug version that provides more info help?

Ta.

chiraag-nataraj · 2021-04-21T21:53:05Z

We've spent a lot of time trying to find these memory leaks but don't have a clear reproduction. Are you able to reproduce this by switching conversations repeatedly? Or is it something else?

I only need to switch conversations a few times. Literally just normal usage --- chat with one person for a while, switch to another convo as a notification comes in, chat with them, switch back, etc --- is enough to reproduce this.

Right now, my signal-desktop has been running for just over 5 hours and is sitting at 1.7GB RAM usage according to systemd (which uses cgroups to track memory and CPU usage).

chiraag-nataraj · 2021-04-21T21:58:36Z

@EvanHahn-Signal Is there any way for us to extract extra information? I don't think the debug log would have the required info, and the developer console has been disabled in newer builds iirc. So is there no way we can provide more insight (beyond 'reproduction' steps, which seems to simply boil down to 'use Signal as normal', at least in my case)?

starvational · 2021-04-23T21:42:27Z

We've spent a lot of time trying to find these memory leaks but don't have a clear reproduction. Are you able to reproduce this by switching conversations repeatedly? Or is it something else?

I don't know if it helps, but maybe the leak is triggered after some time of running in the background or just running in general (e.g. some background service). I leave signal running all the time on my Mac, either focused/visible or in the background when I close the app to hide it. I probably go weeks before having to reboot my Mac and the leak isn't apparent immediately from what I've noticed but it may be different for others. Anyhow, once I notice that utilization his high, I can echo that switching conversations ramps up the RAM consumption noticeably.

sgreadly · 2021-04-23T23:48:27Z

I don't know if it helps, but maybe the leak is triggered after some time of running in the background or just running in general (e.g. some background service).