Quick tip … when working with CALayer shadows, its useful to set shouldRasterize to YES - this helps with performance (along with setting the shadowPath). The problem is that it also rasterises everything else in the layer, including all the text - which then looks awful. There are a couple of options …

1. set the rasterization scale (thus ensuring the rasterization is done at correct scale for the device - retina/non-retina):

   1	layer.rasterizationScale = [[UIScreen mainScreen] scale]];

2. or move the shadow into its own layer and adding that as a sublayer.

Both options work - it depends on what your specific use case is, as to which is going to be better for your app.