@MJBrune @Ashiette I tried doing it as quickly as I can and it didn't work the first time (result appeared what looks like about 0.1-0.2s later) but it did work in subsequent attempts (even when looking for other apps)
CPU: i5-1135G7
If you look for an app and then for a different app, does it find it quickly? I suspect it might be reading the .desktop files lazily (meaning it only reads them the first time you look for something)
Edit: nvm ksycoca is there to prevent that