One of the things I’m hoping Apple will add to the App Store is the ability to obtain demo copies of programs before you purchase them. As more applications are released, I find myself unwilling to commit even a relatively small amount of money to a program that may not permanently stay on my iPhone. In the majority of instances I cannot determined whether a program will be useful just by reading an iTunes description. Instead what I’d really like is a way to test the program before having to buy it through the App Store. Turns out that web site iSmashPhone has come up with a rather clever way to do this. It requires knowing someone who already owns the program you want to test. And since this all happens via iTunes without any hacking on your part – it seems to be a legitimate (if time consuming way) to test programs before buying them.

The “secret” that iSmashphone describes on their web site involves the ability to load programs from the App Store to more than one iPhone. Simply by synching your iPhone over to a friend’s iTunes system – you’ll be able to receive all of their Apps onto your phone.

There are a couple catches:

1. You have to backup your iPhone first – because all of your existing programs are overwritten by your friend’s program when you sync to the friend’s apps in iTunes.

2. This only works between same generation phones (1st generation to 1st generation // 3G to 3G).

3. You must know a friend who owns the program you want to try.

Read the full list of instructions at iSmashPhone.

iSmashPhone (Thanks Mark Chinsky)