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The Weird Photo Folders You Never Knew Your iPhone Had

The odd and creepy function you probably didn't know your iPhone does.
Thomas Peter / Reuters

If you have an iPhone and never used the search tool on your smartphone's 'Photos' app -- you could be in for a surprise.

One shocked Twitter user revealed to the world on Tuesday that Apple iPhones group every photo you have ever taken on your device into various categories that are often oddly named and sometimes a little creepy.

In case you weren't already aware, the word 'brassiere' is the extended form of the word 'bra' -- and that should give you an idea of what pops up in that folder once you search it. Be careful, ladies.

And if you thought the quirkiness stopped there, well you're wrong. Here at HuffPost Australia, we put the iPhones of our office to the test to try uncover the most peculiar and strange photo folder categories.

This is where things get a little curly.

Much to our surprise, everything from 'Idiot Box' for pictures of televisions to 'Lavabo' (which we later found out is a basin or trough used for washing) and 'Dance Palace' popped up.

Look, there's a lot of food here but is the iPhone calling us a grub? Or describing the food as grub? Why are there no actual grubs?
Supplied
Look, there's a lot of food here but is the iPhone calling us a grub? Or describing the food as grub? Why are there no actual grubs?

The main question that comes from all of this is -- why, Apple, why?

According to the tech giant's own website, the mechanism behind these categories comes down to the recognition system that is in-built into the smartphones.

First and foremost, it's to group photos by the people that feature in them, but then also distinguishes your happy snaps according to the scene or objects featured in each frame.

This feature has been a part of the iPhone's design since the release of the iOS 10 in September last year, but mobile photographers around the globe have been left in the dark about these categories until now.

Supplied

On the plus side, if you do type in 'brassiere' or any other search term and they don't show up -- it's because the in-built recognition system personalises the tags applied to each person's photo collection and it hasn't deemed any of your pics as featuring any of your undergarments.

At the very least, it's a great tool if you want all of the photos you've ever taken of dogs or babies or other easily-recognisable things in one place. You're welcome.

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