diff --git a/Examples/Simple/Button.js b/Examples/Simple/Button.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1cf8b932ec697aba7598fd7f9409aae5393e18c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Examples/Simple/Button.js
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+const React = require("react-native");
+
+const {
+  StyleSheet,
+  Component,
+  View,
+  Text,
+  TouchableOpacity
+} = React;
+
+const styles = StyleSheet.create({
+  root: {
+    backgroundColor: "#ddd",
+    borderRadius: 4,
+    borderColor: "#ccc",
+    borderWidth: 1,
+    borderStyle: "solid",
+    width: 150,
+    padding: 10
+  },
+  text: {
+    color: "#333"
+  }
+});
+
+class Button extends Component {
+  render () {
+    const { children, width, ...rest } = this.props;
+    return (
+      <TouchableOpacity {...rest}>
+        <View style={[ {width}, styles.root ]}>
+          <Text style={styles.text}>{children}</Text>
+        </View>
+      </TouchableOpacity>
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+Button.propTypes = {
+};
+
+module.exports = Button;
diff --git a/Examples/Simple/index.ios.js b/Examples/Simple/index.ios.js
index 7b2453a52fbeaff7ba75d1d59c3b9c2900d6e23f..84f844920e190d131f246200c7be351030a6d8b7 100644
--- a/Examples/Simple/index.ios.js
+++ b/Examples/Simple/index.ios.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const PieProgress = require("./PieProgress");
 const OneFingerResponse = require("./OneFingerResponse");
 const AnimatedHelloGL = require("./AnimatedHelloGL");
 const Blur = require("./Blur");
+const Button = require("./Button");
 
 class Simple extends React.Component {
   constructor (props) {
@@ -33,7 +34,15 @@ class Simple extends React.Component {
       switch1: false,
       switch2: false,
       switch3: false,
+      captured: null
     };
+    this.onCapture1 = this.onCapture1.bind(this);
+  }
+
+  onCapture1 () {
+    this.refs.helloGL.captureFrame(data64 => {
+      this.setState({ captured: data64 });
+    });
   }
 
   render () {
@@ -46,6 +55,7 @@ class Simple extends React.Component {
       switch1,
       switch2,
       switch3,
+      captured
     } = this.state;
 
     return <ScrollView style={styles.container}>
@@ -56,7 +66,11 @@ class Simple extends React.Component {
 
         <Text style={styles.demoTitle}>1. Hello GL</Text>
         <View style={styles.demo}>
-          <HelloGL width={256} height={171} />
+          <HelloGL width={256} height={171} ref="helloGL" />
+          <View style={{ paddingTop: 20, alignItems: "center", flexDirection: "row" }}>
+            <Button onPress={this.onCapture1}>captureFrame()</Button>
+            {captured && <Image source={{ uri:captured }} style={{ marginLeft: 20, width: 51, height: 34 }} />}
+          </View>
         </View>
 
         <Text style={styles.demoTitle}>2. Saturate an Image</Text>
diff --git a/RNGL/GLCanvas.h b/RNGL/GLCanvas.h
index a4ffb0038b17577a0cfcaaf690a67d2dbea5d278..835fe5a3eb018aa1b0a311e3e703f972a809de82 100644
--- a/RNGL/GLCanvas.h
+++ b/RNGL/GLCanvas.h
@@ -7,12 +7,14 @@
 @property (nonatomic) BOOL opaque;
 @property (nonatomic) BOOL autoRedraw;
 @property (nonatomic) BOOL eventsThrough;
+@property (nonatomic) int captureNextFrameId;
 @property (nonatomic) BOOL visibleContent;
 @property (nonatomic) NSNumber *nbContentTextures;
 @property (nonatomic) NSNumber *renderId;
 @property (nonatomic) NSArray *imagesToPreload;
 @property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL onProgress;
 @property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL onLoad;
+@property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL onChange;
 
 - (instancetype)initWithBridge:(RCTBridge *)bridge
                    withContext:(EAGLContext *)context;
diff --git a/RNGL/GLCanvas.m b/RNGL/GLCanvas.m
index 26161ded38fb7185cd2f959d3b0d3a141bfaba06..fa7720be73d1020cda51977516531c2e79ab8caa 100644
--- a/RNGL/GLCanvas.m
+++ b/RNGL/GLCanvas.m
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ NSString* srcResource (id res)
   BOOL _preloadingDone;
   
   NSTimer *animationTimer;
+  
+  int _lastCaptureId;
 }
 
 - (instancetype)initWithBridge:(RCTBridge *)bridge
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@ NSString* srcResource (id res)
     _images = @{};
     _preloaded = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
     _preloadingDone = false;
+    _lastCaptureId = 0;
     self.context = context;
     self.contentScaleFactor = RCTScreenScale();
   }
@@ -135,6 +138,12 @@ RCT_NOT_IMPLEMENTED(-init)
   _nbContentTextures = nbContentTextures;
 }
 
+- (void)setCaptureNextFrameId:(int)captureNextFrameId
+{
+  _captureNextFrameId = captureNextFrameId;
+  [self setNeedsDisplay];
+}
+
 //// Sync methods (called from props setters)
 
 - (void) syncEventsThrough
@@ -290,6 +299,7 @@ RCT_NOT_IMPLEMENTED(-init)
 {
   self.layer.opaque = _opaque;
   [self syncEventsThrough];
+  __weak GLCanvas *weakSelf = self;
   
   if (!_preloadingDone) {
     glClearColor(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
@@ -299,13 +309,27 @@ RCT_NOT_IMPLEMENTED(-init)
   BOOL needsDeferredRendering = _nbContentTextures > 0 && !_autoRedraw;
   if (needsDeferredRendering && !_deferredRendering) {
     dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
+      if (!weakSelf) return;
       _deferredRendering = true;
-      [self setNeedsDisplay];
+      [weakSelf setNeedsDisplay];
     });
   }
   else {
     [self render];
     _deferredRendering = false;
+    if (_captureNextFrameId > _lastCaptureId) {
+      _lastCaptureId ++;
+      int id = _lastCaptureId;
+      dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{ // snapshot not allowed in render tick. defer it.
+        if (!weakSelf) return;
+        UIImage *frameImage = [weakSelf snapshot];
+        NSData *frameData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(frameImage);
+        NSString *frame =
+        [NSString stringWithFormat:@"data:image/png;base64,%@",
+         [frameData base64EncodedStringWithOptions:NSDataBase64Encoding64CharacterLineLength]];
+        [weakSelf dispatchOnCapture:frame withId:id];
+      });
+    }
   }
 }
 
@@ -433,4 +457,11 @@ RCT_NOT_IMPLEMENTED(-init)
   [_bridge.eventDispatcher sendInputEventWithName:@"progress" body:event];
 }
 
+- (void)dispatchOnCapture: (NSString *)frame withId:(int)id
+{
+  NSDictionary *event = @{ @"target": self.reactTag, @"frame": frame, @"id":@(id) };
+  // FIXME: using onChange is a hack before we use the new system to directly call callbacks. we will replace with: self.onCaptureNextFrame(...)
+  [_bridge.eventDispatcher sendInputEventWithName:@"change" body:event];
+}
+
 @end
diff --git a/RNGL/GLCanvasManager.m b/RNGL/GLCanvasManager.m
index 4c598f61f6638da626013999d2ca1eac9e736419..7e8cdb3bcc04530e4bc06d2a46011810a8da0eae 100644
--- a/RNGL/GLCanvasManager.m
+++ b/RNGL/GLCanvasManager.m
@@ -23,11 +23,13 @@ RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(opaque, BOOL);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(autoRedraw, BOOL);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(eventsThrough, BOOL);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(visibleContent, BOOL);
+RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(captureNextFrameId, int);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(data, GLData);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(renderId, NSNumber);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(imagesToPreload, NSArray);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(onLoad, BOOL);
 RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(onProgress, BOOL);
+RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY(onChange, BOOL);
 
 - (UIView *)view
 {
diff --git a/src/GLCanvas.js b/src/GLCanvas.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2cb43e77d599c82878070e5e951e452785e0398b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/GLCanvas.js
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+const React = require("react-native");
+
+const {
+  Component,
+  requireNativeComponent
+} = React;
+
+const GLCanvasNative = requireNativeComponent("GLCanvas", GLCanvas);
+
+class GLCanvas extends Component {
+  constructor (props) {
+    super(props);
+    this.state = {
+      captureNextFrameId: 0 // the current id to send to the ObjC part.
+    };
+    this._captureId = 1; // track the current id to use for captures. it get incremented when the frame is obtained.
+    this._captureListeners = { [this._captureId]: [] }; // callbacks by capture id
+
+    this._needsCapture = false;
+    this.handleCapture = this.handleCapture.bind(this);
+    this.onCaptureFrame = this.onCaptureFrame.bind(this);
+  }
+  captureFrame (cb) {
+    this._captureListeners[this._captureId].push(cb);
+    this.requestCapture();
+  }
+  onCaptureFrame ({ nativeEvent: {frame, id} }) {
+    if (id in this._captureListeners) {
+      this._captureListeners[id].forEach(listener => listener(frame));
+      delete this._captureListeners[id];
+    }
+    this._captureId ++;
+    this._captureListeners[this._captureId] = [];
+  }
+  requestCapture () {
+    if (this._needsCapture) return;
+    this._needsCapture = true;
+    requestAnimationFrame(this.handleCapture);
+  }
+  handleCapture () {
+    if (!this._needsCapture) return;
+    this._needsCapture = false;
+    this.setState({ captureNextFrameId: this._captureId });
+  }
+  render () {
+    const { width, height, ...restProps } = this.props;
+    const { captureNextFrameId } = this.state;
+    return <GLCanvasNative
+      ref="native"
+      {...restProps}
+      style={{ width, height }}
+      captureNextFrameId={captureNextFrameId}
+      onChange={this.onCaptureFrame} // FIXME using onChange is a current workaround before we migrate to react-native custom callbacks. later, replace with onCaptureNextFrame
+    />;
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = GLCanvas;
diff --git a/src/View.js b/src/View.js
index d04365bad4bd67150b7b07958364ff213caccf38..975ed9c68bf2b418d4952671f641473733cf18d9 100644
--- a/src/View.js
+++ b/src/View.js
@@ -2,14 +2,12 @@ const {createView} = require("gl-react-core");
 const React = require("react-native");
 const Shaders = require("./Shaders");
 const Uniform = require("./Uniform");
+const GLCanvas = require("./GLCanvas");
 
 const {
-  requireNativeComponent,
   View,
 } = React;
 
-const GLCanvas = requireNativeComponent("GLCanvas", null);
-
 const renderVcontent = function (width, height, id, children, { visibleContent }) {
   const childrenStyle = {
     position: "absolute",
@@ -23,12 +21,7 @@ const renderVcontent = function (width, height, id, children, { visibleContent }
 };
 
 const renderVGL = function (props) {
-  const { width, height, ...restProps } = props;
-  return <GLCanvas
-    key="native"
-    {...restProps}
-    style={{ width, height }}
-  />;
+  return <GLCanvas ref="canvas" {...props} />;
 };
 
 const renderVcontainer = function ({ style, width, height }, contents, renderer) {