Rendering options

Mapsui has three distinct rendering choices:

Choice	What it controls	Example
Renderer	How map content is drawn through `IMapRenderer`	Standard or experimental Skia renderer
Backend	CPU rasterization or GPU drawing	Software or GPU
Host view	The native view hosting GPU drawing	TextureView or SurfaceView on Android

Backend: software or GPU

Most applications should start with their framework's default. GPU drawing can help some workloads, but it is not always faster. Compare the same map and interactions on the devices your application supports.

UI framework	Default and available selection
MAUI	`MapControl.Backend = RenderBackend.Gpu`; `Software` is available on every platform. Android also offers `AndroidSurfaceView`.
Native Android	Instance `RenderMode = SkiaRenderMode.Hardware`, using `SKGLSurfaceView`; choose `SkiaRenderMode.Software` for CPU drawing.
Native iOS	`MapControl.UseGPU = true`, using Metal; `false` uses a canvas view.
Blazor	`MapControl.UseGPU = true`; `false` selects software drawing.
Windows Forms	`MapControl.UseGPU = false`; `true` selects its GPU control.
WPF	Software drawing through `SKElement`; no Mapsui backend selector.
WinUI on Windows	Software drawing through `SKXamlCanvas`; no Mapsui backend selector.
Avalonia	Uses Avalonia's Skia drawing context, including its GPU context when available. Backend configuration belongs to Avalonia.
Eto	Uses Eto's `SkiaDrawable` host; no Mapsui backend selector.
Uno	Uses `SKCanvasElement` where supported; otherwise selects a GPU host on Android/browser and a software host elsewhere. No Mapsui backend selector.

MAUI configuration

Configure the default in shared startup code before constructing controls, including controls created from XAML:

using Mapsui.UI.Maui;

MapControl.Backend = RenderBackend.Gpu; // Initial default

Or select a backend for one control:

var mapControl = new MapControl(RenderBackend.Software);
var activeBackend = mapControl.ActiveBackend;

Each control keeps the backend selected at construction. Changing MapControl.Backend affects future parameterless controls only. Recreate a control to change its backend; dispose the old control and create a fresh map with fresh data sources, because disposing a control also disposes its map.

Existing MapControl.UseGPU code continues to work and is not obsolete. Setting it to false selects Software; setting it to true selects Gpu. Its getter returns true for either GPU option. In particular, setting UseGPU = true after selecting AndroidSurfaceView changes the default back to Gpu.

Keep the application's existing SkiaSharp setup (builder.UseSkiaSharp()). The SurfaceView host installs its own dedicated handler locally; no additional builder registration is required.

Platform-specific GPU options

Gpu uses a TextureView on Android. To try a SurfaceView instead:

var mapControl = new MapControl(RenderBackend.AndroidSurfaceView);

You can also set MapControl.Backend = RenderBackend.AndroidSurfaceView in shared startup code. On non-Android platforms it maps to Gpu, and ActiveBackend reports Gpu. Platform-specific enum values carry their platform in their name. The enum belongs to MAUI; it does not change the native UI projects' APIs.

On Android the SurfaceView host draws on demand, handles pointer coordinates in native pixels, and recreates its Skia context when Android recreates the GL context. ActiveBackend identifies the selected host implementation; native initialization errors are not silently replaced with a TextureView. The Android FixInvisible() workaround applies only to the TextureView backend and does nothing for Software or SurfaceView.

SurfaceView participates in Android composition differently from TextureView. Clipping, stacking, overlays, page transitions, background/resume and rotation still require physical-device verification for this implementation. No tested-device composition findings or performance advantage are claimed yet. Keep the default Gpu option unless your own tests support changing it.

Compare backends in the MAUI sample

Run Samples/Mapsui.Samples.Maui on the target device. For a local vector-tile comparison, choose ExperimentalVectorTiles / VexTileAsSKImage from the category and sample lists. It uses the bundled Zurich MBTiles dataset and its fixed default style, without an online basemap.
Pan, zoom and rotate the map, then use the chevron to expand the Rendering card. Its header shows the backend used by the current control. Change the Backend picker inside the card; Android offers all three enum values, and other platforms offer Software and Gpu.
The expanded card shows the constructed backend, the MAUI and native view types, and Skia's graphics API once a GPU paint creates a context. The sample does not identify the physical GPU. Switching recreates the selected sample, map, sources and control, and restores the camera position, resolution and rotation. Rapid selections cancel older pending switches.
Keep renderer, tile source, style, dependencies and viewport size constant. Use Release builds without a debugger for performance observations. Align resolved SkiaSharp versions when comparing against the separate native Android sample.

This is a manual comparison. It does not automate gestures, reset operating-system caches, measure display FPS, or produce a benchmark report. The performance widget can show renderer-call timing; paint callback cadence and display presentation timing are different measurements. SurfaceView may perform similarly to, better than, or worse than TextureView.

Renderer

The renderer is a separate choice from the backend and host view. These backend options do not change IMapRenderer or DefaultRendererFactory. See the experimental renderer, custom style renderers, and custom layer renderers for renderer configuration and extensibility.