Ways to Save Money on iPhone Apps

With over 100,000 iPhone applications in the App Store, finding the right app can sometimes be a bewildering experience. Apple's getting better at refining the interface - it's certainly easier to find what you're looking for now than when the App Store first launched -- but if you're on a limited budget or just love a good bargain, the App Store doesn't give you the tools you need if you're waiting for that $9.99 app to go on sale for $4.99.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to the App Store's built-in search engine that do let you know when iPhone apps go on sale, and they can save you tons of money. There are two websites that monitor App Store prices and let you know when apps go on sale and price changes.
AppShopper.com - Not only does this site track popular changes in the App Store, you can also filter apps by paid vs. free, by category, and so forth. There's also a search field that allows you to search for any particular app. If you sign up for a free account on the site, you can also generate a Wish List of apps you'd like to buy. AppShopper will notify you by e-mail when any of the apps on your Wish List drop in price.

148Apps.com - Provides some of the same information that App Shopper provides, such as price drops (for the past five days) and newly introduced apps. While it doesn't provide as much trending information as App Shopper, 148Apps does offer a daily e-mail, an RSS feed, and a Twitter feed just for price drops. 148Apps also publishes its own reviews of iPhone apps, giving you another perspective on whether that app's worth your money before you buy it.

With these two different sites monitoring the App Store, there's far less need to worry about draining your checking account dry on iPhone apps. Even if you only try out one of the sites, you'll save a lot of money in the long run.