Rive + Impeller: Animations, Scroll, and Native UI Freeze After Resuming App from Background (Android 11, Vulkan)

[someshkarthik07]

Description:
We’re encountering a reproducible issue where Rive animations, native animations, and scroll views stop functioning when the app resumes from background after ~1 minute. This issue only occurs when Impeller is enabled and Rive is present in the widget tree during backgrounding.

Flutter Version:
3.32.7

Device Details:

• Model: Asus 6Z
• OS: Android 11
• Renderer: Vulkan (Impeller enabled)

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Launch an app with a screen containing a Rive animation.
2. Background the app (e.g., press Home).
3. Wait for ~1 minute or more.
4. Resume the app.
5. Observe that:
   • ❌ Rive animations freeze
   • ❌ Native animations & scroll views stop responding
   • ✅ Touch inputs still work (taps, gestures)

Expected Behavior:
The app should resume without animation/rendering issues after being backgrounded.

Actual Behavior:

• Rive and native animations freeze.
• Scroll views are unresponsive.
• Touch inputs work fine.
• The following error logs are printed:

[ERROR:flutter/impeller/renderer/backend/vulkan/swapchain/khr/khr_swapchain_impl_vk.cc(358)] Impeller validation: Could not wait for fence.
[ERROR:flutter/shell/gpu/gpu_surface_vulkan_impeller.cc(95)] No surface available.

Notes:

• The issue is consistent when Rive is present in the widget tree during backgrounding.
• Disabling Impeller resolves the issue.
• Similar symptoms were discussed in a previously closed issue: Flutter Vulkan Support (ImpellerValidationBreak) Issue Android flutter/flutter#162975

Impact:
This issue severely affects apps using Rive on Android with Impeller + Vulkan. Animations and scroll views become unusable until the app is restarted.

[HayesGordon]

@someshkarthik07, which version of the rive package are you using?

Can you first please confirm that you're able to reproduce this under the following conditions:

• Using our latest dev release for the rive package. We supply two different rendering options for the new major version: Flutter using Factory.flutter or the Rive Renderer using Factory.rive. Please confirm which is causing issues.
• Using the latest version of Flutter, as this is something they may have already fixed, but it has not made it to a stable release. Otherwise, as this is only reproducing when using Impeller, it's likely an issue we'd need to file with the Flutter team. Please see our guidance on testing Impeller for Flutter

[someshkarthik07]

Hey hi

1. we are using latest stable version 0.13.20.
2. upgrading to dev release version 0.14 would require significant effort since it has lot of breaking changes. will update the package and
3. we are using latest flutter stable version 3.32.7 even in 3.32.8 there is no update regarding this issue.