AUR version of Zen Browser glitches/pauses continuously

[JasonTheScientist]

Preliminary Checks

• I have read and understood the important section above.
• I have searched existing issues and avoided creating duplicates.
• I am not filing an enhancement request.
• I have checked that this issue cannot be reproduced on Mozilla Firefox.
• I have checked that this issue can be reproduced once I removed all my Mods and Custom CSS.

What happened?

I prefer to use the AUR version of Zen browser as it plays better with things like speech dispatcher, however, I've noticed an issue with the AUR version of the browser where when I'm watching a video are simply scrolling down web pages the browser will continuously freeze/stop for a couple of seconds. The issue was even worse before a recent patch that fixed the audio issue in the AUR version of Zen Browser but it is still persistent.

I've had to download the Flatpak version of Zen browser and the issue does not exist on that version just the AUR version.

Expected behavior

Smooth video watching and web scrolling

Actual behavior

random freezing/pausing on everything. Most noticable while watching videoes and web scrolling.

Steps to reproduce

Use the AUR version on Arch Linux and see if pause/freeze. Also using hyprland WM if that makes a difference.

Screenshots and videos

No response

Version

1.16.4b

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

Linux (Tarball)

What component is this issue related to?

Performance

Relevant log output if applicable

[fusion44]

The same problem shows up on NixOS, first appearing in the 1.16.x series.

After updating from 1.16.2b to 1.16.4b, the issue has gotten worse as Hyprland now continuously reports that Zen isn’t responding. That notification never appeared in 1.16.2b, although the underlying problem was already present, just less noticeable.

edit I should also note that this happens with or without any videos playing.