How do I draw a shadow under a UIView?

In your current code, you save the GState of the current context, configure it to draw a shadow .. and the restore it to what it was before you configured it to draw a shadow. Then, finally, you invoke the superclass's implementation of drawRect: .

Any drawing that should be affected by the shadow setting needs to happen after

CGContextSetShadow(currentContext, CGSizeMake(-15, 20), 5);

but before

CGContextRestoreGState(currentContext);

So if you want the superclass's drawRect: to be 'wrapped' in a shadow, then how about if you rearrange your code like this?

- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
    CGContextRef currentContext = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    CGContextSaveGState(currentContext);
    CGContextSetShadow(currentContext, CGSizeMake(-15, 20), 5);
    [super drawRect: rect];
    CGContextRestoreGState(currentContext);
}

You can try this .... you can play with the values. The shadowRadius dictates the amount of blur. shadowOffset dictates where the shadow goes.

Swift 2.0

let radius: CGFloat = demoView.frame.width / 2.0 //change it to .height if you need spread for height
let shadowPath = UIBezierPath(rect: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 2.1 * radius, height: demoView.frame.height))
//Change 2.1 to amount of spread you need and for height replace the code for height

demoView.layer.cornerRadius = 2
demoView.layer.shadowColor = UIColor.blackColor().CGColor
demoView.layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: 0.5, height: 0.4)  //Here you control x and y
demoView.layer.shadowOpacity = 0.5
demoView.layer.shadowRadius = 5.0 //Here your control your blur
demoView.layer.masksToBounds =  false
demoView.layer.shadowPath = shadowPath.CGPath

Swift 3.0

let radius: CGFloat = demoView.frame.width / 2.0 //change it to .height if you need spread for height 
let shadowPath = UIBezierPath(rect: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 2.1 * radius, height: demoView.frame.height)) 
//Change 2.1 to amount of spread you need and for height replace the code for height

demoView.layer.cornerRadius = 2
demoView.layer.shadowColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
demoView.layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: 0.5, height: 0.4)  //Here you control x and y
demoView.layer.shadowOpacity = 0.5
demoView.layer.shadowRadius = 5.0 //Here your control your blur
demoView.layer.masksToBounds =  false
demoView.layer.shadowPath = shadowPath.cgPath

Example with spread

To create a basic shadow

    demoView.layer.cornerRadius = 2
    demoView.layer.shadowColor = UIColor.blackColor().CGColor
    demoView.layer.shadowOffset = CGSizeMake(0.5, 4.0); //Here your control your spread
    demoView.layer.shadowOpacity = 0.5 
    demoView.layer.shadowRadius = 5.0 //Here your control your blur

Basic Shadow example in Swift 2.0

If you would like to use StoryBoard and wouldnt like to keep typing in runtime attributes, you can easily create an extension to views and make them usable in storyboard.

Step 1. create extension

extension UIView {

@IBInspectable var shadowRadius: CGFloat {
    get {
        return layer.shadowRadius
    }
    set {
        layer.shadowRadius = newValue
    }
}

@IBInspectable var shadowOpacity: Float {
    get {
        return layer.shadowOpacity
    }
    set {
        layer.shadowOpacity = newValue
    }
}

@IBInspectable var shadowOffset: CGSize {
    get {
        return layer.shadowOffset
    }
    set {
        layer.shadowOffset = newValue
    }
}

@IBInspectable var maskToBound: Bool {
    get {
        return layer.masksToBounds
    }
    set {
        layer.masksToBounds = newValue
    }
}
}

step 2. you can now use these attributes in storyboard

Sketch Shadow Using IBDesignable and IBInspectable in Swift 4

HOW TO USE IT

SKETCH AND XCODE SIDE BY SIDE

CODE

@IBDesignable class ShadowView: UIView {

    @IBInspectable var shadowColor: UIColor? {
        get {
            if let color = layer.shadowColor {
                return UIColor(cgColor: color)
            }
            return nil
        }
        set {
            if let color = newValue {
                layer.shadowColor = color.cgColor
            } else {
                layer.shadowColor = nil
            }
        }
    }

    @IBInspectable var shadowOpacity: Float {
        get {
            return layer.shadowOpacity
        }
        set {
            layer.shadowOpacity = newValue
        }
    }

    @IBInspectable var shadowOffset: CGPoint {
        get {
            return CGPoint(x: layer.shadowOffset.width, y:layer.shadowOffset.height)
        }
        set {
            layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: newValue.x, height: newValue.y)
        }

     }

    @IBInspectable var shadowBlur: CGFloat {
        get {
            return layer.shadowRadius
        }
        set {
            layer.shadowRadius = newValue / 2.0
        }
    }

    @IBInspectable var shadowSpread: CGFloat = 0 {
        didSet {
            if shadowSpread == 0 {
                layer.shadowPath = nil
            } else {
                let dx = -shadowSpread
                let rect = bounds.insetBy(dx: dx, dy: dx)
                layer.shadowPath = UIBezierPath(rect: rect).cgPath
            }
        }
    }
}

OUTPUT

For fellow Xamarians, the Xamarin.iOS/C# version of the answer would look like the following:

public override void DrawRect(CGRect area, UIViewPrintFormatter formatter)
{
    CGContext currentContext = UIGraphics.GetCurrentContext();
    currentContext.SaveState();
    currentContext.SetShadow(new CGSize(-15, 20), 5);
    base.DrawRect(area, formatter);
    currentContext.RestoreState();                
}

The main difference is that you acquire an instance of CGContext on which you directly call the appropriate methods.

You can use this Extension to add shadow

extension UIView {

    func addShadow(offset: CGSize, color: UIColor, radius: CGFloat, opacity: Float)
    {
        layer.masksToBounds = false
        layer.shadowOffset = offset
        layer.shadowColor = color.cgColor
        layer.shadowRadius = radius
        layer.shadowOpacity = opacity

        let backgroundCGColor = backgroundColor?.cgColor
        backgroundColor = nil
        layer.backgroundColor =  backgroundCGColor
    }
}

you can call it like

your_Custom_View.addShadow(offset: CGSize(width: 0, height: 1), color: UIColor.black, radius: 2.0, opacity: 1.0)