HEIF+

What happens during capture

HEIF+ captures a DNG and develops it with CIRAWFilter. The camera's processed companion image is not the source for this pipeline. The app crops, applies LUT, halation and grain, and exports HEIF.

Choose HEIF+ in Processed photo in the TopBar File format control. Adjust development in Settings → Capture and files → HEIF+ Development. If Bayer RAW or ProRAW is also selected, that DNG accompanies the HEIC in the same library item. With RAW set to None, the app uses ProRAW when available, or Bayer as a fallback, only as a temporary development source.

Development controls

Sharpness, noise reduction, clarity, light balance, EV exposure, global curve, shadows, temperature and tint act during file development. They differ from controls that determine sensor exposure before shooting.

Apple Automatic preserves per-image calibration. The initial profile uses gentle values for sharpness, noise, clarity and light balance. There is no live RAW preview: compare saved files when evaluating a setting.

• Highlight recovery requires iOS 26 and file support; the module checks each DNG.
• RAW 9 is requested only when available on iOS 27. If its capabilities are not ready, the pipeline tries an earlier supported decoder.
• Chroma noise, detail and moiré do not offer effective adjustments in RAW 9. Displayed support corresponds to the last inspected capture.

Quality and copy without effects

The pipeline attempts 10-bit HEIF in Display P3 with compression quality 0.8. If the encoder fails, it may try 8-bit, except for file or storage errors. The recipe records effective bit depth. Output is SDR.

The copy without effects keeps the same RAW development, without LUT, halation or grain. It is not the DNG or a version without all processing. Grain and detail affect file size.

Persistent queue and recovery

Up to three jobs are kept in Application Support, excluded from backup. Each stores capture settings, project, location, effects, authorship and date. Development and saving run serially.

The app uses background time granted by iOS. When it expires, the job is kept for resumption; completion with the app closed is not guaranteed. On failure, it offers Retry, Later or Discard. Settings also shows pending jobs.

• Later keeps the job for a future attempt.
• Retry resumes the operation; checkpoints reuse already confirmed assets.
• Discard removes the pending job and its temporary source; choose this only if you do not want to recover it.

What still needs attention

Native tests with synthetic images verify export, effects, metadata and recovery. Real Bayer RAW and ProRAW quality, control differences, timing, memory and interruptions still need checking on a physical iPhone. The implementation alone does not prove quality on every lens.