diff --git a/shell/platform/darwin/ios/framework/Source/FlutterViewController.mm b/shell/platform/darwin/ios/framework/Source/FlutterViewController.mm
index bc8f4c457e51204b79f98a2b27dc3d455e4028b0..21beeffddb68b8c107fe70cf249fcd3d4d7d709c 100644
--- a/shell/platform/darwin/ios/framework/Source/FlutterViewController.mm
+++ b/shell/platform/darwin/ios/framework/Source/FlutterViewController.mm
@@ -848,9 +848,15 @@ static flutter::PointerData::DeviceKind DeviceKindFromTouchType(UITouch* touch)
   [self updateViewportPadding];
   [self updateViewportMetrics];
 
+  // There is no guarantee that UIKit will layout subviews when the application is active. Creating
+  // the surface when inactive will cause GPU accesses from the background. Only wait for the first
+  // frame to render when the application is actually active.
+  bool applicationIsActive =
+      [UIApplication sharedApplication].applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive;
+
   // This must run after updateViewportMetrics so that the surface creation tasks are queued after
   // the viewport metrics update tasks.
-  if (firstViewBoundsUpdate) {
+  if (firstViewBoundsUpdate && applicationIsActive) {
     [self surfaceUpdated:YES];
 
     flutter::Shell& shell = [_engine.get() shell];