You may or may not have seen the popular photo sharing application, Instagram. Chances are, due to the popularity, you have at least heard of it. Instagram is a fun application, very popular with tech-savvy youngsters, that automatically filters photos taken with a smartphone. There are many different filters to apply for different photos and occasions. Many of them achieve a sort of vintage or artsy twist on the photos.

Instagram has become something of a cult-hit among users, inspiring iPhone cases and even a London art show featuring photos filtered through the application. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Instagram's love-themed counterpart, Lovestagram, hits the market

The origin story of Lovestagram is fittingly adorable. The project was undertaken by Kaitlyn Trigger, long-time girlfriend of Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram. Trigger has been in a relationship with Krieger since before the development and success of Instagram. According to an interview Trigger gave to Mashable, she was able to keep the project a secret from her boyfriend as a romantic surprise. When she first had the idea in Fall of 2011, she began teaching herself to code.

How It Was Formed

Having no previous experience and after speeding some time struggling on her own, she did eventually tell her professional-coder boyfriend vague details about the project in order to get help with some problems she ran into along the way. However, she was careful not to let too many details escape.

Since Fall of 2011, this tech-savvy romantic taught herself the basics of Python, Django, Jinja, HTML, CSS, jQuery and Photoshop. Despite enthusiastic curiosity from her boyfriend, Trigger was able to keep the project under wraps. This is an impressive accomplishment considering the app she was developing was so directly related to the app her boyfriend helped build. Certainly, the effort made for a very romantic Valentine's surprise.

Not only did she get to give a unique, romantic and personalized gift to her Valentine, but she also has provided a resource for countless other couples to enjoy on this romantic holiday. It is only fitting that tech lovers have a Valentine's Day app to show how they feel. Once the app is downloaded, users need only log in with their Instagram information and provide the user information of the person they wish to Lovestagram. The app will then collect all of the photos relevant to the accounts, including shared photos and tagged photos, to create a montage of their relationship as represented by Instagram.

Lovestagram serves as a fun, mini-photo album of a specific relationship. It's a romantic way to celebrate and look back on all the fun things you've shared since using Instagram. Lovestagram, as indicated by the name, is primarily designed for romantic couples, but could be used for just about any loving relationship. Trigger hinted at the possibility of developing other similar apps for holidays like Christmas, Fourth of July or even birthdays. The development of more apps is likely dependent on the success of Lovestagram, so support it if you want to see more.