US firm Mobui has announced the private beta of its new AppsWeLike referral network, which lets iPhone developers embed lists of other apps inside their own, and make money from click-throughs.

Viacom has already signed on to use the network, which is being offered free to developers. The money comes from affiliate commissions from App Store sales, with Mobui taking a cut.

"With over 27,000 applications now available in the iTunes App Store, application developers are searching for new ways to stand out from the crowd and reach more customers,” saJohn Burry, CEO of Mobui.

"AppsWeLike solves today’s growing mobile application discovery problem by providing consumers with a simple way to find apps through the recommendations of trusted application developers and friends."

Friends? Ah, yes, there's a consumer angle too. iPhone users can create their own lists of apps that they like, and publish them as a Facebook news item. In that sense, it's doing a similar thing to LivingSocial.

Meanwhile, the developer side of AppsWeLike will be up against AdMob's just-launched iPhone Download Exchange, although that takes more of an advertising than an affiliate model.

“We are taking the proven website referral model that has been used on the Internet for over a decade and applying it to the growing universe of mobile applications,” says Burry.

For more information, check the official AppsWeLike website.