If Apple didn't approve apps, would you install them on your only phone?
moss: I'd treat them the same way I do apps on other systems: I'd avoid ones that I was unfamiliar with or that came from an untrusted source, but if a general consensus developed that something was good, I'd go ahead and download it. Quality applications seldom turn out to ALSO be malware without people knowing about it, so this strategy works pretty well for me.