The Gradient tool does not work well in Illustrator 24.0.3 using high sierra 10.13.3.
When changing anything with the annotator (color stops, angle, etc) illustartor will hang for several seconds, and nothing can be selected, so I have to wait for it to resume. Often times the gradient panel will blink continuously during this time, it's weird. It's like it's having a spasm. Everything with the gradient works fine in 22.1, so I've been using the older program when i have to use a lot of gradients. This is annoying though, to constantly switch between programs. Why would you, yet again, "fix" something that was working just fine before?