The MIAF specification is fully compliant to the High Efficiency Image File (HEIF) format, and defines additional constraints to ensure a higher level of interoperability. While the HEIF specification defines the file format and general requirements for the included coding formats, HEIF does not define specific interoperability points by which capturing devices, editing applications, storage systems, cloud and delivery networks, and playback devices and applications can interoperate with each other.
The Multi-Image Application Format (MIAF) defines precise interoperability points for creating, reading, parsing and decoding images with associated metadata, including support for enhanced compression, High Dynamic Range, broader colour palette and object identification/portraiture depth maps for still, burst, sequence and live photos.
MIAF also limits the supported encoding types to a set of specific profiles and levels. It requires specific metadata formats, and defines a set of brands for signalling such constraints.