Shadows: Rule 2 - The Zero-Alpha Limitation
Android calculates drop shadows based on an object's fill opacity. It utilizes a binary optimization rule:
- If a Shape Resource has an Alpha Fill opacity of exactly
00(the first two characters in the ARGB code, representing 0%), the engine determines the object is completely invisible.
- Result: It entirely skips the shadow calculation to save processing power. Furthermore, if the Alpha Fill opacity is 0%, the engine also refuses to render any borders applied to that shape, causing the entire object to vanish from the screen.
To visualize this, note that the following test images (Test 2, Test 3, and Test 4) all have 00 Alpha, thus no shadow or shape.
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