iOS add / remove shadow from a view

Question

I do not understand how to remove a shadow that was added to a view. I add to my view in initWithFrame a shadow in this way:

self.layer.borderWidth          


        

Answer 1

Swift 5.+

My solution was to add a shadowBackgroundView, which has a removable shadowLayer. In this way I could easyly remove the layer without resetting the shadow properties.

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    private let shadowBackgroundView: UIView = {
        let view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 100))
        view.layer.masksToBounds = false
        return view
    }()

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        // Do any additional setup after loading the view.

        view.addSubview(shadowBackgroundView)

        // the view you want to add the shadow
        let dummyView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 100, height: 100))
        dummyView.backgroundColor = .red
        shadowBackgroundView.addSubview(dummyView)

        let addShadowButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 300, width: 140, height: 50))
        addShadowButton.backgroundColor = .blue
        addShadowButton.setTitle("Add Shadow", for: .normal)
        addShadowButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(addShadow), for: .touchUpInside)

        let removeShadowButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 450, width: 140, height: 50))
        removeShadowButton.backgroundColor = .blue
        removeShadowButton.setTitle("Remove Shadow", for: .normal)
        removeShadowButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(removeShadow), for: .touchUpInside)

        view.addSubview(addShadowButton)
        view.addSubview(removeShadowButton)
    }

    @objc
    func addShadow() {
        let shadowLayer = CALayer()
        shadowLayer.name = "ShadowLayer"
        shadowLayer.shadowColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
        shadowLayer.shadowOpacity = 1
        shadowLayer.shadowOffset = .zero
        shadowLayer.shadowRadius = 10
        shadowLayer.shadowPath = UIBezierPath(rect: shadowBackgroundView.bounds).cgPath
        // Otherwise the shadow will appear above the dummyView
        shadowLayer.zPosition = -1
        shadowBackgroundView.layer.addSublayer(shadowLayer)
    }

    @objc
    func removeShadow() {
        // Alternatively, you could also create the shadowLayer as a property, so you could call shadowLayer.removeFromSuperLayer()
        shadowBackgroundView.layer.sublayers?.first { $0.name == "ShadowLayer" }?.removeFromSuperlayer()
    }
}

As a Note, for the UITableViewCell, you wouldnt need to add a shadowBackgroundView, but you could add the shadowLayer directly to cell.view.layer, which serves as the backgroundView for the cell.contentView.