diff --git a/graphics/java/android/graphics/HardwareRenderer.java b/graphics/java/android/graphics/HardwareRenderer.java
index c3b1cd74..b61ae12 100644
--- a/graphics/java/android/graphics/HardwareRenderer.java
+++ b/graphics/java/android/graphics/HardwareRenderer.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import android.annotation.Nullable;
 import android.app.Activity;
 import android.app.ActivityManager;
+import android.compat.annotation.UnsupportedAppUsage;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.pm.ActivityInfo;
 import android.content.res.Configuration;
@@ -1075,6 +1076,53 @@
         ProcessInitializer.sInstance.setContext(context);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true if HardwareRender will produce output.
+     *
+     * This value is global to the process and affects all uses of HardwareRenderer,
+     * including
+     * those created by the system such as those used by the View tree when using hardware
+     * accelerated rendering.
+     *
+     * Default is true in all production environments, but may be false in testing-focused
+     * emulators or if {@link #setDrawingEnabled(boolean)} is used.
+     *
+     * Backported from android T.
+     *
+     * @hide
+     */
+    @UnsupportedAppUsage
+    public static boolean isDrawingEnabled() {
+        return nIsDrawingEnabled();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Toggles whether or not HardwareRenderer will produce drawing output globally in the current
+     * process.
+     *
+     * This applies to all HardwareRenderer instances, including those created by the platform such
+     * as those used by the system for hardware accelerated View rendering.
+     *
+     * The capability to disable drawing output is intended for test environments, primarily
+     * headless ones. By setting this to false, tests that launch activities or interact with Views
+     * can be quicker with less RAM usage by skipping the final step of View drawing. All View
+     * lifecycle events will occur as normal, only the final step of rendering on the GPU to the
+     * display will be skipped.
+     *
+     * This can be toggled on and off at will, so screenshot tests can also run in this same
+     * environment by toggling drawing back on and forcing a frame to be drawn such as by calling
+     * view#invalidate(). Once drawn and the screenshot captured, this can then be turned back off.
+     *
+     * Backported from android T.
+     *
+     * @hide
+     */
+    // TODO: Add link to androidx's Screenshot library for help with this
+    @UnsupportedAppUsage
+    public static void setDrawingEnabled(boolean drawingEnabled) {
+        nSetDrawingEnabled(drawingEnabled);
+    }
+
     private static final class DestroyContextRunnable implements Runnable {
         private final long mNativeInstance;
 
@@ -1393,4 +1441,8 @@
 
     private static native void nInitDisplayInfo(int width, int height, float refreshRate,
             int wideColorDataspace, long appVsyncOffsetNanos, long presentationDeadlineNanos);
+
+    private static native void nSetDrawingEnabled(boolean drawingEnabled);
+
+    private static native boolean nIsDrawingEnabled();
 }
diff --git a/libs/hwui/Properties.cpp b/libs/hwui/Properties.cpp
index b8fa55a..18fab8e 100644
--- a/libs/hwui/Properties.cpp
+++ b/libs/hwui/Properties.cpp
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@
 
 StretchEffectBehavior Properties::stretchEffectBehavior = StretchEffectBehavior::ShaderHWUI;
 
+bool Properties::drawingEnabled = true;
+OverrideDrawingEnabled Properties::overrideDrawingEnabled = OverrideDrawingEnabled::Default;
+
 bool Properties::load() {
     bool prevDebugLayersUpdates = debugLayersUpdates;
     bool prevDebugOverdraw = debugOverdraw;
@@ -141,6 +144,11 @@
 
     enableWebViewOverlays = base::GetBoolProperty(PROPERTY_WEBVIEW_OVERLAYS_ENABLED, false);
 
+    drawingEnabled = base::GetBoolProperty(PROPERTY_DRAWING_ENABLED, true);
+    if (!drawingEnabled) {
+        enableRTAnimations = false;
+    }
+
     return (prevDebugLayersUpdates != debugLayersUpdates) || (prevDebugOverdraw != debugOverdraw);
 }
 
@@ -210,5 +218,18 @@
     sRenderPipelineType = type;
 }
 
+void Properties::setDrawingEnabled(bool newDrawingEnabled) {
+    overrideDrawingEnabled =
+            newDrawingEnabled ? OverrideDrawingEnabled::On : OverrideDrawingEnabled::Off;
+    enableRTAnimations = newDrawingEnabled;
+}
+
+bool Properties::isDrawingEnabled() {
+    if (overrideDrawingEnabled == OverrideDrawingEnabled::Default) {
+        return drawingEnabled;
+    }
+    return overrideDrawingEnabled == OverrideDrawingEnabled::On;
+}
+
 }  // namespace uirenderer
 }  // namespace android
diff --git a/libs/hwui/Properties.h b/libs/hwui/Properties.h
index 7df6e2c..73fccb6 100644
--- a/libs/hwui/Properties.h
+++ b/libs/hwui/Properties.h
@@ -187,6 +187,12 @@
  */
 #define PROPERTY_WEBVIEW_OVERLAYS_ENABLED "debug.hwui.webview_overlays_enabled"
 
+/**
+ * Property for globally GL drawing state. Can be overridden per process with
+ * setDrawingEnabled.
+ */
+#define PROPERTY_DRAWING_ENABLED "debug.hwui.drawing_enabled"
+
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Misc
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -208,6 +214,8 @@
     UniformScale  // Uniform scale stretch everywhere
 };
 
+enum class OverrideDrawingEnabled { Default, On, Off };
+
 /**
  * Renderthread-only singleton which manages several static rendering properties. Most of these
  * are driven by system properties which are queried once at initialization, and again if init()
@@ -301,6 +309,12 @@
         stretchEffectBehavior = behavior;
     }
 
+    // Represents if GL drawing is enabled. Should only be false in headless testing environments
+    static bool drawingEnabled;
+    static OverrideDrawingEnabled overrideDrawingEnabled;
+    static bool isDrawingEnabled();
+    static void setDrawingEnabled(bool enable);
+
 private:
     static StretchEffectBehavior stretchEffectBehavior;
     static ProfileType sProfileType;
diff --git a/libs/hwui/jni/android_graphics_HardwareRenderer.cpp b/libs/hwui/jni/android_graphics_HardwareRenderer.cpp
index 54367b8..9e56584 100644
--- a/libs/hwui/jni/android_graphics_HardwareRenderer.cpp
+++ b/libs/hwui/jni/android_graphics_HardwareRenderer.cpp
@@ -817,6 +817,14 @@
     DeviceInfo::setPresentationDeadlineNanos(presentationDeadlineNanos);
 }
 
+static void android_view_ThreadedRenderer_setDrawingEnabled(JNIEnv*, jclass, jboolean enabled) {
+    Properties::setDrawingEnabled(enabled);
+}
+
+static jboolean android_view_ThreadedRenderer_isDrawingEnabled(JNIEnv*, jclass) {
+    return Properties::isDrawingEnabled();
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // HardwareRendererObserver
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -953,6 +961,9 @@
         {"preload", "()V", (void*)android_view_ThreadedRenderer_preload},
         {"isWebViewOverlaysEnabled", "()Z",
          (void*)android_view_ThreadedRenderer_isWebViewOverlaysEnabled},
+        {"nSetDrawingEnabled", "(Z)V", (void*)android_view_ThreadedRenderer_setDrawingEnabled},
+        {"nIsDrawingEnabled", "()Z", (void*)android_view_ThreadedRenderer_isDrawingEnabled},
+
 };
 
 static JavaVM* mJvm = nullptr;
diff --git a/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.cpp b/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.cpp
index 2f3a509..bb0b135 100644
--- a/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.cpp
+++ b/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.cpp
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@
 }
 
 void CanvasContext::allocateBuffers() {
-    if (mNativeSurface) {
+    if (mNativeSurface && Properties::isDrawingEnabled()) {
         ANativeWindow_tryAllocateBuffers(mNativeSurface->getNativeWindow());
     }
 }
@@ -480,7 +480,8 @@
     SkRect dirty;
     mDamageAccumulator.finish(&dirty);
 
-    if (dirty.isEmpty() && Properties::skipEmptyFrames && !surfaceRequiresRedraw()) {
+    if (!Properties::isDrawingEnabled() ||
+        (dirty.isEmpty() && Properties::skipEmptyFrames && !surfaceRequiresRedraw())) {
         mCurrentFrameInfo->addFlag(FrameInfoFlags::SkippedFrame);
         if (auto grContext = getGrContext()) {
             // Submit to ensure that any texture uploads complete and Skia can
diff --git a/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.h b/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.h
index 6dbfcc3..2fed468 100644
--- a/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.h
+++ b/libs/hwui/renderthread/CanvasContext.h
@@ -90,9 +90,17 @@
      *         and false otherwise (e.g. cache limits have been exceeded).
      */
     bool pinImages(std::vector<SkImage*>& mutableImages) {
+        if (!Properties::isDrawingEnabled()) {
+            return true;
+        }
         return mRenderPipeline->pinImages(mutableImages);
     }
-    bool pinImages(LsaVector<sk_sp<Bitmap>>& images) { return mRenderPipeline->pinImages(images); }
+    bool pinImages(LsaVector<sk_sp<Bitmap>>& images) {
+        if (!Properties::isDrawingEnabled()) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        return mRenderPipeline->pinImages(images);
+    }
 
     /**
      * Unpin any image that had be previously pinned to the GPU cache