#4660·glide

When subsequent loads fail, image displayed with GlideRequest.error() blinks (reloads?) instead of being still image

Author: mazzicCreated Oct 7, 2021Updated Jun 19, 2026

Glide Version: 4.11.0

Integration libraries: OkHttp 4.4.1, okhttp3-integration 4.11.0

Device/Android Version: Android TV STB, Android 9

Issue details / Repro steps / Use case background:

I want to specify some Android resource to be displayed when Glide fails to load target image from the internet, so I use the GlideRequest.error() method. My problem is: when subsequent load() calls fail, resource file is being displayed all the time, but with the visible blink (like a reloading look) after (or during?) each call to load(). I don't want this blinking to be visible. This behavior is not limited to Android Drawable resource, I can reproduce it also with passing url or ColorDrawable. I will use ColorDrawable to demonstrate this issue.

GlideApp.with(fragment)
        .load(imageUrl)
        .error(ColorDrawable(Color.RED))
        .into(view)

What happens (more or less as I see this):

1. Trying to load url1 -> fail -> red color is displayed
2. Trying to load url2 -> fail -> blink -> red color  is displayed
3. Trying to load url3 -> fail -> blink -> red color is displayed

I would like to see still image without blinking in such case. Interesting thing is when I use placeholder() instead of error(), for failed loading of these urls, I get the still placeholder image, without blinking:

GlideApp.with(fragment)
        .load(imageUrl)
        .placeholder(ColorDrawable(Color.RED))
        .into(view)

Another interesting fact is that without trying to load urls from the internet, just only trying to display ColorDrawable, there is also no blinking after subsequent calls:

GlideApp.with(fragment)
        .load(ColorDrawable(Color.RED))
        .into(view)

So, it looks like the problem (blinking/reloading) is visible only when using error() method.

Glide load line / GlideModule (if any) / list Adapter code (if any):

java
class MyImageView : AppCompatImageView {

fun loadImage(fragment: Fragment, imageUrl: String?) {
        GlideApp.with(fragment)
                .load(imageUrl)
                .error(ColorDrawable(Color.RED))
                .into(view)
}