How can I add a shadow to bottom sheet view?

For API Level 21 and higher, set the following in the parent view. You can also try in the rootview of the bottomsheet (I have not tried it in the root view)

android:background="@android:color/white"
android:elevation="16dp"

If no background then can use

android:outlineProvider="bounds"

For example, I have my sheet inside a nested scroll view

<android.support.v4.widget.NestedScrollView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:clipToPadding="false"
  app:layout_behavior="android.support.design.widget.BottomSheetBehavior"
        android:elevation="16dp"
        android:outlineProvider="bounds"
        >

    <include layout="@layout/bottomsheet_1" />

    </android.support.v4.widget.NestedScrollView>

I know that a shadow shape doesn't have the same appearance as an elevation - but at least give it a try. The trick is to use app:layout_anchor to clip the shadow to the bottom sheet.

activity_main.xml

<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">

<MapView
    android:id="@+id/map"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" />

<View
    android:id="@+id/shadow"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="16dp"
    android:background="@drawable/shape_gradient_top_shadow"
    app:layout_anchor="@id/bottom_sheet" />

<FrameLayout
    android:id="@+id/bottom_sheet"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="200dp"
    android:clipToPadding="false"
    app:layout_behavior="android.support.design.widget.BottomSheetBehavior" />

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

shape_gradient_top_shadow.xml

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<gradient
    android:angle="90"
    android:endColor="@android:color/transparent"
    android:startColor="#64000000"/>
</shape>

Looks like this:

EDIT

Get an even better result with a custom ShadowView:

• Post from Roman Nurik on this topic: https://plus.google.com/+RomanNurik/posts/2QvHVFWrHZf
• Gist of the ShadowView based on Roman Nurik's solution: https://gist.github.com/MariusBoepple/bf869e02541cd4750550e88fa07b5ddd

Then you can do the following:

<ShadowView
    android:id="@+id/shadow"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="16dp"
    android:gravity="bottom"
    app:layout_anchor="@id/bottom_sheet" />