Introduction

The previous article covered the theory of overdraw and tools to detect it. While iOS users rely on Apple’s curation, Android users rely on developers’ discipline. Unfortunately, many market-leading Android apps still suffer from significant overdraw issues. As a developer, I want to see Android bridge and eventually surpass the experience gap with iOS.

This post follows one overdraw optimization case. It uses only a few of the available techniques; apps differ, and so will the changes they need. Treat it as an example. Getting this right still takes work.

If you missed the theory part, check it here: Android Performance Optimization: Overdraw (Part 1)

Updated 2026-10-13: This article was written in 2014. Its source excerpts have been checked against AOSP android-4.4.4_r2. Overdraw remains relevant, but ADT, monitor, Hierarchy Viewer, and the old OpenGL tracing workflow are outdated. Android Studio 3.1 and later use Layout Inspector for hierarchy inspection; use Perfetto for frame timing. The historical source is retained below, with Android 12 and Android 16 boundaries added.

It’s been a while since my last update. After joining a new company, things have been busy, but I’ve been spending a lot of time researching Android performance. I’ve realized there’s so much I still don’t know, so I’m starting from the application level and working my way down. This series will document my learnings on Android performance optimization.

First, we’ll discuss GPU Overdraw, which is often the most direct point of contact for developers. This topic is split into two parts: Part 1 covers the theory and optimization suggestions, and Part 2 will walk through a practical optimization example.

What is Overdraw?

GPU overdraw means drawing the same pixel more than once within a frame. For example, drawing a TextView background and then its text can draw the pixels under the characters twice. Extra shading, blending, and memory accesses cost resources, but whether they cause missed frames depends on area, transparency, GPU capabilities, and the rest of the frame’s work. A color overlay alone cannot establish the performance impact. See Android’s overdraw guide.