It isn’t surprising that there are just so many apps on the AppStore. Most paid applications have a free counterpart and if you look through the latest submissions it’s clear that some developers feel the need to barrage the store with 100 versions of the same application, when really they could have just added that functionality into the single app. If you are glued to the Top-Paid or Top-Free sections, I feel that you miss out on some true gems in the AppStore, such as Sentinel, a free tower defense game with nice graphics and challenging game play. Never-the-less, we are stuck with sorting through all this junk to find the decent apps on the iPhone.

Even before this was truly a problem, PandoraBox was developed and released for the iPhone. This free application was a new front-end to the App Store. Basically, it adds functionality to view recent app submissions (accepted apps), view recent price drops from paid-to-free app, and view recent price drops on all paid apps. It also let’s you bookmark apps and will show you when that app is on sale. Free on the AppStore. [iTunes Link]

Another app for viewing the AppStore is AppSniper. AppSniper is similar to PandoraBox, but with it you can ban sellers, filter categories, and “Snipe” (Bookmark) apps. The one thing that seems better about AppSniper is the ‘On Sale’ screen shows the discount percent, provides a nice price over time graph, and the ability to email a app recommendation to a friend. On some apps I found the screen shots button didn’t seem to show anything. $0.99 on the AppStore. [iTunes Link]

appsfire enables you to share your favorite applications to your friends. It’s nothing really great here. The apps above are better suited to find new apps. However, it’s free on the AppStore. [iTunes Link]

Another clever app for finding deals on the AppStore is Bargin Bin with Push. Let’s you see the sale price and add applications to your watch list. When the price drops you will get push notifications. Interesting app, and the feature for browsing only apps that are popular and on sale is a good one. I’ll be adding Command & Conquer Red Alert to my watch list. Bargin Bin is free and available in the AppStore. [iTunes Link]

Warlex is another iPhone application adviser. The benefit of Warlex is that it only shows you the essential and highly rated applications. Instead of getting bombarded with 1000’s of apps that you wouldn’t want even if they were free, it only shows you the somewhat decent apps. Warlex is free and available in the AppStore. [iTunes Link]

With the huge success of the AppStore, Apple really needs to find a better way to navigate the over 100,000 applications. Until they do, use these applications to get the best deals.