[Bug] UI freezes completely but continues to register clicks in the background / Opening a new window works

[universish]

Preliminary checklist

• I have read the README.
• I have searched the existing issues for my problem. This is a new ticket, NOT a duplicate or related to another open issue.
• I have read the FAQs.
• I have updated Cromite to the latest version. The bug is reproducible on this latest version.
• This is a bug report about the Cromite browser; not the website nor F-Droid nor anything else.

Can the bug be reproduced with corresponding Chromium version?

Yes

Are you sure?

Yes

Cromite version

Version 144.0.7559.97 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Device architecture

x64

Platform version

Windows 11

Android Device model

desktop pc - nvidia 1050

Is the device rooted?

No

Changed flags

#extensions-menu-access-control Enabled.
#enable-web-app-predictable-app-updating Enabled.
#enable-extension-autoupdate Enabled.
#enable-desktop-pwas-tab-strip-settings Enabled.
#enable-desktop-pwas-sub-apps Enabled.
#enable-desktop-pwas-borderless Enabled.
#enable-desktop-pwas-additional-windowing-controls Enabled.

Unchanged:
#use-angle default

Is this bug happening ONLY in an incognito tab?

No

Is this bug caused by the adblocker?

No

Is this bug a crash?

1. No.

Describe the bug

Description

When using Cromite, after a certain amount of time, the browser interface freezes completely and the screen remains static. However, the browser does not crash entirely. Even though the screen is frozen, when I click with the mouse, I can tell that processes are still running in the background (links open, sounds play, etc.).

Interestingly, if I open a new Cromite window while the current one is frozen, the newly opened window displays the image without any issues and continues to function normally.

When I reviewed the log files, I didn’t see any signs of a fatal crash; only standard statistical (histogram) data was present. This confirms that the browser’s main process did not crash.

Suspected Cause:

The root cause of this issue is a lockup or hang state in the GPU Process or the Hardware Acceleration component within the Chromium architecture.
Since the sub-process responsible for rendering the image to the screen stops responding, the interface freezes; however, because the Browser Process (main process) continues to run, it still detects mouse clicks. When a new window is opened, the operating system and GPU create a fresh graphics context (canvas/context) for that window, so no freezing occurs in the new window.

Temporary Workaround:

There are currently two ways for users to work around the issue:

1. Disable Hardware Acceleration: Go to Settings > System > and turn off the “Use hardware acceleration when available” option.
2. Change the ANGLE Backend: Go to chrome://flags/#use-angle and change the graphics backend from “Default” to “D3D11”.
   Note: The “OpenGL” option could also be added to the project.

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Use the browser for a while.

(There is no way to reproduce this specific error.)

Expected behavior

Permanent Solution Suggestions:

My recommendations for the development team to permanently resolve this issue:

• GPU Process Crash/Hang Recovery: Ensure the browser detects “hang” states where the GPU process is unresponsive more quickly (watchdog mechanism) and automatically restarts the GPU process in the background (relaunch) without the user interface freezing permanently.

• Checking Upstream Patches: Similar freezing issues can occur in Chromium (particularly with certain Intel/AMD drivers). Verify whether Chromium’s latest “GPU Blocklist” updates (a list that disables acceleration on problematic hardware) or ANGLE fixes have been integrated into Cromite.

• Rendering Improvements: If the issue is causing a performance bottleneck directly due to privacy/ad-blocking patches applied by Cromite, identify the thread-blocking operations that are hindering page rendering.

Screenshots

No response

[universish]

I also tried it in Version 145.0.7632.120 (Official Build) (64-bit). The problem persists.

[Dorian399]

Same issue here, 145.0.7632.120 (Official Build) (64-bit), Windows 10. Been happening for a while even before this version.

[flodor88000]

same

[universish]

There are a few crash reports, but I can't download them, in Windows. The browser crashes. It also crashes when I click the "Generate Crash Report" button.

[universish]

I encountered the same issue on an Android 15 phone. However, on Android, the app crashes after the UI freezes.

The primary causes I identified from the crash logs are as follows:

1. Main Thread Blocking: The system returned an "Input dispatching timed out" error. This error indicates that the app’s UI was unable to respond to touchscreen inputs (MotionEvents) for more than 5 seconds.

2. Excessive Workload and Skipped Frames: The system’s UI rendering component (Choreographer) reported that 73 frames were skipped first, followed by 83 frames, due to the main thread being heavily loaded. This confirms that the browser was attempting to handle a workload exceeding its current capacity.

3. Extension Errors: The TWP Translate (beta) extension, identified by the ID "gkkkcomfmldkigajkmljnbpiajbpbgdg," running in the background, continuously returns the error (Could not establish connection. Receiving end does not exist.) This situation may be causing unnecessary loops or resource consumption in the background.
   I uninstalled the extensions. I experienced the same error again. The UI froze and the app crashed.

4. Termination of Child Processes: It appears that some child processes, such as the browser’s compositor, have crashed or been forcefully terminated by the Android system due to reasons like insufficient memory (exited due to signal 9 (Killed)).

An interface freeze occurred in the built-in Chromium engine (libchrome.so) within Cromite, likely due to an installed extension or a resource-intensive web page. Since the device’s processor (UI thread) couldn’t handle this load within 5 seconds, the Android system deemed the app frozen and closed it. Even after I didn’t delete or uninstall the extension, the issue recurred. The website I opened froze. Then the app crashed, or rather, the Android system closed the app.

The log entries show that Vulkan (AdrenoVK-0) and OpenGL ES (AdrenoGLES-0) have been successfully loaded. However, there are some warnings related to VulkanPreferredFeatures. On Android devices, Vulkan drivers (especially on entry-level and mid-range graphics units like the Adreno 610) may not always be very stable. From what I can see in the logs, the main issue is not so much that the graphics cannot be rendered, but rather that the main thread (UI Thread) becomes so busy processing these graphics that it freezes. Changing the graphics backend (such as switching from Vulkan to OpenGL ES) might indirectly help resolve the issue by reducing the load on the processor to some extent. However, this is not a permanent solution.

I changed the chrome://flags/#use-angle flag, default to OpenGL ES. I’m currently testing this. I’ll share the results.

[universish]

I changed the chrome://flags/#use-angle flag to OpenGL ES. I’m currently testing this. I’ll share the results.

Result: The Cromite app won’t open on Android 15; it crashes every time I launch it. This time, it crashes immediately. The Android system’s “Wait, close the app” screen doesn’t even appear. The window just closes. Since the app doesn’t open, I can’t access the crash reports either.
The crash first occurred on the resource-intensive webpage gemini.google.com. After the app crashed once, it has been crashing immediately upon launch every time I start it.

I tried everything, but couldn’t fix it. I had no choice but to uninstall and reinstall the app. All my settings, PWAs, shortcuts to web pages in the phone’s main menu, open accounts, bookmarks—everything was reset or deleted. This happened to me during another crash as well. This problem has happened to me twice in the last six months; both times I had to start from scratch. I’m really frustrated. I’m completely fed up with Chromite. It’s my main browser. I don’t use the app on my phone; I use PWAs. All my social media and most of my internet-accessible apps were PWAs. Even my AI apps are PWAs. When Chromite stops opening, everything gets reset.

[uazo]

When using Cromite, after a certain amount of time, the browser interface freezes completely and the screen remains static.

Yes, I’m aware of that. But I haven’t yet figured out why. I’ll wait to see if it still happens with version 147; if so, it’s not my problem but an upstream issue.
I’ll let you know.