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Re:macOS has checked app signatures online for over 2 years by jtbayly on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @09:00AM (#25209263)
The larger the program, the longer it takes to verify the first time you run it. I can only interpret that as meaning they are basing the whole program.

Source: me, downloading and running various apps

Re:macOS has checked app signatures online for over 2 years by jtbayly on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @11:38AM (#25211058)
Apparently the initial launch delay is Gatekeeper, which is something different.