WebGL getError() is slow in new Chrome Android

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Oleksandr Popov

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Dec 5, 2025, 4:45:15 AM12/5/25
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Hello.

Is it just me or getError() is way too slow in the Chrome 142 on Android?
My test app checks for gl errors literally on each draw call. Previously this was not a big deal but a few weeks ago I've noticed that the app with ~100 simple draw calls was not able to reach even 30 fps on my phone.
Debugged it for a couple of hours to find that the cause was not in large geometries or uncompressed textures or shaders but the slow check for GL errors. Without it demo runs at solid 120 fps.

Has this been changed in the recent Chrome versions?

Best regards,
   Oleksandr

Kai Ninomiya

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Dec 5, 2025, 6:18:24 PM12/5/25
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This is probably related to chrome://flags#use-passthrough-command-decoder. Can you try switching that between "Enabled" and "Disabled" to verify if it makes the difference?

I am surprised that getError() was ever fast enough for your app. It's not supposed to be fast, I think it has always required an IPC roundtrip. But maybe it used to have fast paths, that your app hit, or something, I'm not sure offhand.

-Kai (he/they)


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