The App about Apps: AppShopper

This application is the Wall Street of the iPhone App Store. If you are an avid app buyer or looking for new ones, this is a dream app.

AppShopper lists apps and tells you how long ago they've been added, updated, or price-changed. If the price has lowered, it crosses off the old price, lists the new one, and says "price drop" in green. If the price has increased, it lists the price and says in red "price increase." If it's a top 100 app, it won't say price drop (if there was one, but is still listed under "price changes") but instead a purple "top 100." If it's been updated, it says in orange "update."

As soon as you start the app, you're at the "Popular" section. To browse for specifics, you can pick a category, choose paid or free, and the type of what you want to see (updates, new, price changes). You can only pick one category and type at a time, which is okay but maybe I want to browse entertainment and education apps at the same time.

The "What's New" section lists the most recently added and changed apps. You can pull the screen down to refresh it as well.

"My Apps" and "Wish List" are sections you need to sign-up for, but sign-up is free (just like the app itself). Having these are good if there's an app you really want but either can't afford it or just want to bookmark to download at a later time in the store, since you can't save searches there.

When you click to view an app, it's similar to the app store. It shows the price in a box and if you click it, it changes to a green "Get" box*. Below are two check boxes that say "Want it" and "Own it." If you want it, it goes into your "Wish List." If you own it, it goes to "My Apps."

Screencaps/pictures of the app are showed in a format like the store next, followed by a description. Now, the entire description isn't shown at first because some can be very long or people don't always care to read it. However, there's a "Read More..." button that acts as a cut like LiveJournal uses and it shows the rest of the description without reloading. Once you expand the description, though, you can't re-cut it.

If there's an update, it says "What's New" underneath and it lists the changes just like the app store's "Updates." It tells you the version next and then "Tell a friend," which automatically opens your email and starts a new pre-written message.

Lastly, there's "App activity" which you can click and it shows you when it was first listed ("New") and all previous update and price change dates.

Why you should download it
1. It's free.
2. It's a faster, more fun alternative to the app store.
3. You can bookmark apps that you want or look over later.
4. You can see apps that normally cost money temporarily be free much better than the app store.
5. I believe that when the app store has their feature of "Apps Everyone Should Have" or whatever they call their basic app section, this will/should be one that they list.
6. Even if you don't keep it or have any interest in what it's based to do, it's fun to play with.

*I've had problems downloading other apps from the store as well as the "Get" option with this one, which I assume means that it downloads or takes you to the app store, but I haven't updated my iPhone in a couple weeks, so I'll update this post when I do to see how "Get" works.