I don't have any idea what you think might be an "underlying issue". It's called bad code. It comes in all stripes and flavors, but mostly it has to do with how apps connect to cloud or LAN resources. For example, using synchronous HTTP instead of asynch. @csteele's post discusses this in some detail.
Just as was and still is the case with PCs, there is all sorts of bad code out there. How do you as a consumer of a PC deal with this? You learn to only install code from trusted sources, not just anyone you can find with Google. Even then, sometimes bad code still causes horrible problems with PCs, allowing hacks and viruses to infect the PC. Are these problems something that Microsoft can deal with? On one level, yes, they constantly strive to improve the platform, but on the larger scale, no, they can't police what people put on their PCs. They can throw up a warning, are you sure you want to install this? But then, when you do, it's on you, not them. How is that any different that what is happening with Hubitat?
We encourage you and all users to critique the code you are using, to report publicly that some app is causing problems. Usually, the app author will address these problems, but not always.
To selectively disable an app, there is a grayed out X in the upper right hand corner of the Apps page. Click on it and a list of check boxes will appear just left of the apps. A similar tool exists on the Devices page.
Also, apply basic common sense: If your hub was running fine, and suddenly starts slowing down, what did you most recently install? Perhaps start with that app or driver. Check things out after you install them.
And it turned out that this app had serious problems, and brought hubs to their knees. We looked at the code, and it was a hot mess.
This isn't a wise thing to do. What can I say? If you install 5 bad apps in quick succession, and things break, what should you do?
At this time, yes it is. We don't have a magic wand here to wave over an app and know that it's good or bad.
The vast majority of our customers have not installed many custom apps. It's not hubris, it's our attempt to provide a complete set of apps to cover most automation scenarios. The very nature of a customizable hub means that there are infinite number of things that one might dream up to do with it, and obviously we can't implement an infinite number of apps. But, the 90/10 rule applies, and the vast majority of our customers don't need exotic apps.
This is the risk of providing a tool with power. We can't teach everyone how to write good rules. The community is constantly coming to help people figure things out. We actually don't expect the "average" consumer to use Rule Machine --> it is intended to provide power for more advanced users. Most basic automations can be accomplished with other built-in apps: Simple Lighting, Motion Lighting, Notifier, etc. Certainly, we can and will do a better job providing guidance and help for beginners.
But, when you are past being a beginner, and you take off the training wheels, is it realistic to expect that someone can't write a bad rule or write bad Groovy code? You can write an infinite loop in any programming tool, and in every programming environment that is a bad thing. I could bring SmartThings to its knees, at least my connection to it, with an infinite loop. Sure, in a multi-user cloud system an individual user process can be isolated and the rest protected from it. But Hubitat is a single user system and its single user can make mistakes that bring the hub to its knees. How can you protect against that?
OK, we've supported hundreds of devices and brought forward dozens of apps in the 20 months since Hubitat launched. We don't plan to stop. There will always be more devices, more integrations, etc. that can be supported. We've been running hard at it, and arguably have been more responsive and more productive than any of our competitors. That's the best we can do, and we aren't ashamed of the state of affairs.
