I can absolutely see this. But to share a different perspective since “instantly vs. submit” doesn’t make sense in some of my software that’s constantly applying input changes on change:
I use a switch to toggle one specific thing, checkboxes to pick zero, one, or many related things.
Eg: switch: “slow mode is active for robots in this zone.” Checkboxes: “this applies to robot types A, C, D.”
Also worth noting that on macOS (where you’d see checkboxes), things like settings dialogs very rarely have “save” or “apply” buttons, with any settings changes taking effect immediately. Checkbox vs switch has no bearing on immediacy.
The only exceptions are cases where partially applied settings can cause problems (like network settings) and the odd holdover that’s survived since the pre-OS-X days (like the settings dialog in Music, previously known as iTunes, previously known as SoundJam MP).
I use a switch to toggle one specific thing, checkboxes to pick zero, one, or many related things.
Eg: switch: “slow mode is active for robots in this zone.” Checkboxes: “this applies to robot types A, C, D.”