diff --git a/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/render/helpers/ApplyImageLayer.kt b/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/render/helpers/ApplyImageLayer.kt
index 70f7d9f..3482db6 100644
--- a/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/render/helpers/ApplyImageLayer.kt
+++ b/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/render/helpers/ApplyImageLayer.kt
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ import androidx.media3.common.Effect
 import androidx.media3.common.util.UnstableApi
 import androidx.media3.effect.BitmapOverlay
 import androidx.media3.effect.OverlayEffect
-import ch.waio.pro_video_editor.src.features.render.utils.getRotatedVideoDimensions
 import java.io.File
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 import androidx.core.graphics.scale
 import androidx.media3.effect.StaticOverlaySettings
 import androidx.media3.effect.TimestampWrapper
+import ch.waio.pro_video_editor.src.features.render.models.ImageLayer
 
 /**
  * Applies static image overlay on video.
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ import androidx.media3.effect.TimestampWrapper
 fun applyImageLayer(
     videoEffects: MutableList<Effect>,
     inputFile: File,
-    imageLayers: List<ch.waio.pro_video_editor.src.features.render.models.ImageLayer>,
+    imageLayers: List<ImageLayer>,
     rotationDegrees: Float,
     cropWidth: Int?,
     cropHeight: Int?,
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ fun applyTimedImageLayers(
             // Scale to target size if provided
             val sizedBitmap = if (layer.width != null && layer.height != null) {
                 val scaled = layerBitmap.scale(layer.width.toInt(), layer.height.toInt())
-                layerBitmap.recycle()
+                // scale() may return the same object when dimensions already match
+                if (scaled !== layerBitmap) layerBitmap.recycle()
                 scaled
             } else {
                 layerBitmap
@@ -106,13 +107,8 @@ fun applyTimedImageLayers(
 
             if (isStretched) {
                 // Stretch image to fill the entire video frame
-                val scaledOverlay = if (sizedBitmap.width != videoWidth || sizedBitmap.height != videoHeight) {
-                    val scaled = sizedBitmap.scale(videoWidth, videoHeight)
-                    sizedBitmap.recycle()
-                    scaled
-                } else {
-                    sizedBitmap
-                }
+                val scaledOverlay = sizedBitmap.scale(videoWidth, videoHeight)
+                if (scaledOverlay !== sizedBitmap) sizedBitmap.recycle()
 
                 val unpremultiplied = unpremultiplyAlpha(scaledOverlay)
                 if (unpremultiplied !== scaledOverlay) scaledOverlay.recycle()
diff --git a/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/thumbnail/ThumbnailGenerator.kt b/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/thumbnail/ThumbnailGenerator.kt
index ac87d2c..8899394 100644
--- a/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/thumbnail/ThumbnailGenerator.kt
+++ b/android/src/main/kotlin/ch/waio/pro_video_editor/src/features/thumbnail/ThumbnailGenerator.kt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream
 import java.io.File
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
+import androidx.core.graphics.scale
 
 /**
  * Service for generating video thumbnail images.
@@ -140,13 +141,18 @@ class ThumbnailGenerator(private val context: Context) {
                     if (bitmap != null) {
                         val resized =
                             resizeBitmapKeepingAspect(bitmap, outputWidth, outputHeight, boxFit)
-                        val bytes = compressBitmap(resized, outputFormat, jpegQuality)
-                        thumbnails[index] = bytes
-                        val duration = System.currentTimeMillis() - startTime
-                        Log.d(
-                            THUMBNAIL_TAG,
-                            "✅ [$index]  Generated in $duration ms (${bytes.size} bytes)"
-                        )
+                        try {
+                            val bytes = compressBitmap(resized, outputFormat, jpegQuality)
+                            thumbnails[index] = bytes
+                            val duration = System.currentTimeMillis() - startTime
+                            Log.d(
+                                THUMBNAIL_TAG,
+                                "✅ [$index]  Generated in $duration ms (${bytes.size} bytes)"
+                            )
+                        } finally {
+                            if (resized !== bitmap) bitmap.recycle()
+                            resized.recycle()
+                        }
                     } else {
                         Log.w(THUMBNAIL_TAG, "[$index] ❌ Null frame at ${timeUs / 1000} ms")
                     }
@@ -217,13 +223,18 @@ class ThumbnailGenerator(private val context: Context) {
                     if (bitmap != null) {
                         val resized =
                             resizeBitmapKeepingAspect(bitmap, outputWidth, outputHeight, boxFit)
-                        val bytes = compressBitmap(resized, outputFormat, jpegQuality)
-                        thumbnails[index] = bytes
-                        val duration = System.currentTimeMillis() - startTime
-                        Log.d(
-                            THUMBNAIL_TAG,
-                            "[$index] ✅ ${timeUs / 1000} ms in $duration ms (${bytes.size} bytes)"
-                        )
+                        try {
+                            val bytes = compressBitmap(resized, outputFormat, jpegQuality)
+                            thumbnails[index] = bytes
+                            val duration = System.currentTimeMillis() - startTime
+                            Log.d(
+                                THUMBNAIL_TAG,
+                                "[$index] ✅ ${timeUs / 1000} ms in $duration ms (${bytes.size} bytes)"
+                            )
+                        } finally {
+                            if (resized !== bitmap) bitmap.recycle()
+                            resized.recycle()
+                        }
                     } else {
                         Log.w(THUMBNAIL_TAG, "[$index] ❌ Null frame at ${timeUs / 1000} ms")
                     }
@@ -328,7 +339,7 @@ class ThumbnailGenerator(private val context: Context) {
         val resizedWidth = (originalWidth * scale).toInt()
         val resizedHeight = (originalHeight * scale).toInt()
 
-        return Bitmap.createScaledBitmap(original, resizedWidth, resizedHeight, true)
+        return original.scale(resizedWidth, resizedHeight)
     }
 
     /**