I love the Hipstamatic app, but had no idea of it's amazing history. I just thought it was among the ranks of LoFi cameras that have inspired some of the great effects that we see in iPhone and Android photography apps like the Holga and Lomo.

Thanks to Marty at Life in LoFi, now we do...

"Hipstamatic is one of the most popular photography apps in the App Store at the moment. It’s in the Top 5 in multiple countries. Flickr groups have popped up. The #hipstamatic hashtag is all over Twitter. The app has universally gotten rave reviews, and deservedly so. The environment, the sounds, the photos — it’s fun to shoot with."

While I love the app and the effects that it produces, it falls into the category of apps that modify the picture before saving it. To some this is probably part of the fun -- you get what you get just like the real thing.

To me, it is squandering the power of the iPhone. Why not store the original photo and allow me to apply any of the effects the camera offers? That would have me in this app all the time to see what it does to any photo I take.

It sounds like the developers are keeping things close to the vest on the future enhancements, but I'm glad to see that that they're addressing this. From the interview...

We are also working on an app to change the way users manipulate images taken outside of the Hipstamatic. That’s really all we can say at the moment.

I think this enhancement is key and gives them a shot at making this a number one photography app.

If you have an iPhone and haven't checked out this app, you're missing out. You can get it at the iTunes store here.