How to detect if the system supports hardware acceleration?

Question

Currently I do this so that one of mine activity that require acceleration work:

<application android:hardwareAccelerated="true">
    <activity ... />
    <activity android:hardwareAccelerated="false" />
</application>

Otherwise the application hangs and closes (crash) and in the log get the following error:

04-23 05:27:36.570: E/Chromium(902): [ERROR:gles2_cmd_decoder. cc(3389)] Gles2decoderimpl::Resizeoffscreenframebuffer failed to allocate Storage for Offscreen target Depth buffer.

However I would like to detect if there is support for hardware acceleration and activate it, this can be by manifest as much as by java. It is possible?

Answer 1

Hardware acceleration is available with Android 3.0 (API level 11).
From Android 4.0(API level 14) it is enabled by default.

Hardware acceleration can be controlled at the following levels:

• Application
  In the Androidmanifest.xml, indicating true or false to the attribute android:hardwareAccelerated, in section <application/>:

  <application android:hardwareAccelerated="true" ...>
  

• Activity
  In the Androidmanifest.xml, indicating true or false to the attribute android:hardwareAccelerated, in section <activity/>:

  <application android:hardwareAccelerated="true">
      <activity ... />
      <activity android:hardwareAccelerated="false" />
  </application>
  

• Window
  Using the method setFlags() Window to enable hardware acceleration:

  getWindow().setFlags(
      WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_HARDWARE_ACCELERATED,
      WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_HARDWARE_ACCELERATED);
  

  Hardware acceleration cannot be disabled at this level.

• View
  Using the method setLayerType() of View to disable hardware acceleration:

  myView.setLayerType(View.LAYER_TYPE_SOFTWARE, null);
  

  Hardware acceleration cannot be enabled at this level.

There are two ways to know if an application is hardware-accelerated:

• View.isHardwareAccelerated()
  Returns true if the View is associated with a Window hardware-accelerated.

• Canvas.isHardwareAccelerated()
  Returns true if the Canvas is hardware accelerated.

Please note that before using the method you must be assured that the View is associated with a Window, what is not the case for example in onCreate().

A place where you have this guarantee is the onWindowFocusChanged() of Activity.

@Override
public void onWindowFocusChanged(boolean hasFocus) {
    super.onWindowFocusChanged(hasFocus);
    if(hasFocus){
        boolean isAccelerated = view.isHardwareAccelerated();
    }

}

For more detailed information see the topic Hardware Acceleration in the documentation.