Whether you're browsing in iTunes on your desktop or in the mobile App Store on your iPod touch/iPhone, you can get lost in more than 35,000 apps. But, you should know that iTunes isn't the only place to find apps to download. Let me tell you about three websites that offer alternative ways to sort through all those apps. Although these are websites outside of iTunes, when you find an app to download, they link to the details page in iTunes so you can download the app.

Mobclix keeps detailed data about the App Store. I like that it allows filtering apps by category and price. This way I can narrow my browsing and searching to free apps in the Education category. I can sort the results by rank, average rating, or release date.

AppShopper also makes it easy to browse by category and free vs. paid. You can also browse just new apps. Unfortunately, AppShopper's search option can't be limited to just free apps.

Educational Apps Review has video reviews of a couple dozen apps. The growing number of reviews are tagged by grade level and subject. Simply click on the tags on the left side of the page to see the reviews. The site is run by educators and they are organizing a community around the site with a Ning and a wiki.

You can access these sites on your desktop computer or in mobile Safari. When using mobile Safari, the download links actually launch the mobile App Store where you can download and install the app. (Unfortunately, Educational Apps Review's videos won't play in mobile Safari.)

Last week the billionth app was downloaded from the App Store. Apple recently said they have sold 37 million iPhones and iPod touches. That means that there has been an average of 27 apps downloaded for each device sold. That number will only increase as the App Store gets more and better apps. Next time you want to browse and search for apps, I highly suggest visiting the online app directories above--you just might find your next favorite app!

Labels: appstore, iphone, ipodtouch