Question

I am trying to run some performance test over my new app with CoreAnimation and OpenGL ES Driver Instrument. Both tools give me the same information. So, I get confused about the purpose of each tool. My app is just a normal app, it is not a game, and I do not use any openGL code. Does it make sense to run OpenGL ES Driver Instrument on my app?

I read from the Apple page about OpenGL ES Driver:
The OpenGL ES Driver instrument queries the GPU driver on an iOS device to sample OpenGL statistics for a single process. The instrument helps you determine how efficiently you’re using OpenGL and the GPU on the device.

The Apple page also states that OpenGL ES Driver will give me lots of information but I cannot see any of them:
Context Count, Command Buffer Allocated Bytes, Command Buffer Submitted Bytes, Command Buffer Submit Count, Command Buffer Render Count

Answer 1

Core Animation is a higher level framework that uses OpenGL ES on the iPhone. So an app that uses Core Animation indirectly uses OpenGL ES. The OpenGL ES Driver instrument may tell you some interesting information about how Core Animation utilizes the GPU on the iPhone. Yet that information is not likely to be actionable. Optimizing the OpenGL code directly would require altering Apple’s code.

So to directly answer your question: No, it does not make any sense to run the OpenGL ES Driver Instrument on an app that doesn’t include your own OpenGL code.