I think you assumption is spot on. Android already does physically correct soft shadows in real time. The initial design of material would have allowed way mo

I think you assumption is spot on. Android already does physically correct soft shadows in real time. The initial design of material would have allowed way more space manipulations, like making a view rotate on any axis. So the shadow implementation allows to remain correct even in this kind of case. It is kinda sad that the final design forbids this, a simple raster shadow would have been enough to just signify the elevation.