Methods, systems, and apparatuses, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for rendering application content are disclosed. In one embodiment a content receiver receives application content for rendering on a display unit of a computing device. A first processing unit renders the application content onto a first frame of a plurality of frames, and a second processing unit sequentially renders the plurality of frames onto the display unit. A counter counts of a number of outstanding frames as provided by the first processing unit to the second processing unit relative to corresponding acknowledgement messages indicating that one of the outstanding frames has been rendered onto the display unit. If the count is less than a threshold, the first processing unit renders the application content onto the first frame, otherwise the first processing unit waits to render the application content until the count is less than the threshold.