# SDL: Try to just recreate the surface and swap chain when being restored on Android

**URL:** <https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/sdl-try-to-just-recreate-the-surface-and-swap-chain-when-being-restored-on-android/69295>\
**Category:** SDL Commits\
**Created:** [September 12, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/sdl-try-to-just-recreate-the-surface-and-swap-chain-when-being-restored-on-android/69295 "2026-09-12T00:07:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SDLPushPostBot](https://discourse.libsdl.org/user_avatar/discourse.libsdl.org/sdlpushpostbot/32/4370_2.png) [@SDLPushPostBot](https://discourse.libsdl.org/u/SDLPushPostBot)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/sdl-try-to-just-recreate-the-surface-and-swap-chain-when-being-restored-on-android/69295/1 "2026-09-12T00:07:50Z")

</div>

> <https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/commit/ea3963f01a2a93c79ba55a67ad2b18357fe43edc>
>
> A full device lost + restore takes about 300ms on my Google Pixel Fold running A…ndroid 17, where just recreating the swap chain only takes about 8 ms.

```diff
From ea3963f01a2a93c79ba55a67ad2b18357fe43edc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam Lantinga <[EMAIL REDACTED]>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:14:41 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Try to just recreate the surface and swap chain when being
 restored on Android

A full device lost + restore takes about 300ms on my Google Pixel Fold running Android 17, where just recreating the swap chain only takes about 8 ms.
---
 src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c | 50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 49 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c b/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c
index 40af36db4b18f..ded4db231c328 100644
--- a/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c
+++ b/src/render/vulkan/SDL_render_vulkan.c
@@ -2767,6 +2767,50 @@ static VkResult VULKAN_UpdateForWindowSizeChange(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
     return VULKAN_CreateWindowSizeDependentResources(renderer);
 }
 
+#ifdef SDL_PLATFORM_ANDROID
+static bool VULKAN_HandleWindowRestored(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
+{
+ VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData = (VULKAN_RenderData *)renderer->internal;
+
+ if (!rendererData->device) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ if (rendererData->surface_external) {
+ // We can't recreate external surfaces, fall back to device lost handling
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ VULKAN_IssueBatch(rendererData);
+ VULKAN_WaitForGPU(rendererData);
+
+ if (rendererData->swapchain != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
+ vkDestroySwapchainKHR(rendererData->device, rendererData->swapchain, NULL);
+ rendererData->swapchain = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
+ }
+ if (rendererData->surface != VK_NULL_HANDLE) {
+ vkDestroySurfaceKHR(rendererData->instance, rendererData->surface, NULL);
+ rendererData->surface = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
+ }
+ if (!SDL_Vulkan_CreateSurface(renderer->window, rendererData->instance, NULL, &rendererData->surface)) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ // The formats we cached were queried against the old surface
+ VkResult result = VULKAN_GetSurfaceFormats(rendererData);
+ if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ result = VULKAN_CreateWindowSizeDependentResources(renderer);
+ if (result != VK_SUCCESS) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ return true;
+}
+#endif // SDL_PLATFORM_ANDROID
+
 static void VULKAN_WindowEvent(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const SDL_WindowEvent *event)
 {
     VULKAN_RenderData *rendererData = (VULKAN_RenderData *)renderer->internal;
@@ -2778,7 +2822,11 @@ static void VULKAN_WindowEvent(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const SDL_WindowEvent *ev
 #ifdef SDL_PLATFORM_ANDROID
     // Prevent black screen when app returns from background
     if (event->type == SDL_EVENT_WINDOW_RESTORED) {
- VULKAN_HandleDeviceLost(renderer);
+ // Try to just recreate the surface and swap chain
+ if (!VULKAN_HandleWindowRestored(renderer)) {
+ // We're fully lost, notify the application
+ VULKAN_HandleDeviceLost(renderer);
+ }
     }
 #endif
 }

```