THIS Valentine's Day, quite a few people in far-flung corners of the world fell in love with an app. Private sharing app Cupple, which was developed in Newcastle, had been around since the tail end of the year, but downloads really spiked in February after some major press outlets spread the word.

Cupple is designed to allow rich and private conversations between two people, enabling them to share pictures, locations and messages through a private and pleasant interface.

First, Apple featured the app on the new “Date Night” section of its App Store. Then the Wall Street Journal praised it for putting “a welcome premium on privacy” in an article on apps relating to love. Digital culture site Gizmodo also made it the App of the Day on Valentine’s Day. It’s also been included in a 50-strong list of the Best of British Apps, compiled by The Appside for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

All this positive press caused a spike in downloads for the app, including a run of 2,500 in four days. It is now “well clear of 10,000 downloads”, according to co-creator Tim Allison.

“In the early days of the app, we noted that the majority of the interest was from the Netherlands, around 70% of downloads in fact.

“The press we got caused an increase in downloads of about 500% in five days, and the US is now the main user of Cupple. That’s obviously a great position to be there, because it’s a big market.”