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If I have a folder named '.IMAGES' in my SDCARD containing jpg files, what will happen to the images in the folder?

Adi
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    this type of folder means hidden folder for gallery on device – Abhishek Patel Jun 16 '16 at 07:32
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    Android is based on Linux which is striving for [POSIX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX) compatibility. And using POSIX semantics, files or directories starting with a dot are considered hidden. – Some programmer dude Jun 16 '16 at 07:37
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    Both Abhishek and Joachim have valid points. The advantage is that your folder will be invisible to the user in most file browsers (unless the user has specifically selected the option to view hidden files), while still being accessible to your application. – Anuj Jun 16 '16 at 07:39

2 Answers2

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It will not influence images inside the folder. It will influence on folder visibility itself - it will not be visible while listing it parent directory.

This is a standard UNIX convention about "hidden files" naming.

Andrey Kopeyko
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Android is a Unix-style operating system. Which means that they are following POSIX style conventions rather than the classic Windows ones we know so dearly.

In simpler terms Windows uses a hidden flag for folders like the "AppData"-folder that usually contain configuration files and should be hidden to the common user.

Unix-systems (Linux, OSX) uses the "dot"-convention which makes it easier to spot/set hidden files/folders by just applying a dot in the name of the file/folder.

Why it's so is probably argued and I think many theories exist. If you are interested check the following link

To answer your question the map is probably created by another app to cache content and in this case images or photos. Check the contents and see if there are thumbnails or similar

Mazze
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