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US startups PicPlz and Instragram have been the subject of plentiful buzz in recent months, thanks to the popularity of their iPhone apps, which enable people to apply visual filters to their photos and then share them.

Now both companies have launched APIs, aiming to get their services integrated into other apps, fuelling their growth.

PicPlz made its announcement first yesterday, publishing its API documentation and a code samples library, while also launching a mailing list for developer support. The company says that more than 100 developers have already applied to be part of the API initiative.

"We think that allowing developers access to our upload and filter pipeline brings something different to the table than 'just another photo-sharing API'," blogged the company. It has also announced support for Creative Commons licensing for pics posted using PicPlz, and also a new analytics dashboard for brands.

Instagram quickly followed suit with its own announcement, inviting developers to sign up to its API, or at least to sign up to be notified when they can get access. The company stressed that it intends to protect the data and images of Instagram users. "We'd like to make sure that the people we do let in create quality apps that increase the aggregate utility of the ecosystem."

Instagram now has nearly two million users, the blog post also revealed.