Some developers have found a way to work around the App Store’s alphabetical listing system to get their programs to appear earlier in the list than they should. The result is that legitimately named applications are getting pushed back and can be harder to find, according to TUAW.

It appears that a small handful of iPhone and iPod touch developers have been adding spaces, numbers, and special characters to the beginning of their application names to bump their software to the top of the App Store’s All iPhone Applications list. Currently, the first six applications listed are Soduku Classic, Paquet, UEIpond, ZeptoPad, !FlOverload!, and Whack The Groundhog, none of which have names that begin with the letter A.

Some developers and customers are bent out of shape over the practice, and are hoping Apple takes some kind of action to bring back at least some sense of fair play to the application listing process. One option would be to change the alphabetical listing order so application names that start with special characters appear at the end of the list instead of the beginning. Apple could also prevent developers from adding spaces to the beginning of their application names.

The App Store is already off to a strong start, which means competition to get applications noticed by potential buyers is high, too. Unless Apple takes steps to prevent the handful of developers that are abusing the system, it will likely get even more difficult for customers to find the applications they want.