Is it safe to close the lid while an app (Xcode) is updating - during "installing" phase? I have an early 2014 MacBook Air running Catalina (10.15 - 19A602). Updating Xcode always takes an inordinate amount of time, and it's usually the "installing" phase (looking at Launchpad) that takes most of it.

Currently, I see "Installing, 7.78 GB of 7.78 GB" displaying in Launchpad.

Given that Xcode is the worst offender of all apps that update from the store in terms of update time, is there a better approach for updating it to make it more predictable/interactive? Is a delete-and-clean-install a better alternative?
Yes, it is perfectly safe to close the lid during updating of Xcode. The update process will of course pause, but resumes automatically when you open the lid again later.

I don't think a method exists to make the update timing of Xcode more predictable or interactive. The progress indication they share is all we get, and it may sometimes be off by a lot.

Delete-and-clean-install seems to work quicker for me in some cases at least. However, I haven't experienced any negatives coming from updating Xcode in place (except the wait while updating).