The developer of Metrotube , Lazyworm has released an update for its popular Windows Phone YouTube app. So what's new in this latest release? Lazyworm has opened it up for other Windows Phone 8 developers to utilise URI app-to-app communication and automatically launch Metrotube's player from within their own apps.

Should you click a video link in a third-party app, which uses Metrotube for said player functionality, you'll be transferred to Metrotube automatically where the media will be displayed. It's a handy feature to implement to further enhance the user experience. This will take place within our very own Windows Phone Central app (using Metrotube), so you'll be able to see just how cool this is.

As well as opening up this functionality for developers, the 4.0.2.0 update also addresses numerous minor bugs and usability concerns that users have reported. We've got some news for the future too as Lazyworm is currently working on a UI refresh, so be sure to look out for a major overhaul in the future. We'll keep you all updated on progress and when the next update should hit the store.

If you're not familiar with Metrotube, it's one of many unofficial YouTube apps for the Windows Phone platform. Numerous features are sported by the app, including offline playback (preloading) and account management. Once logged in, users can check out playlists, favourites, videos marked for later viewing and more. There are a number of apps available that share similar functionality, including Microsoft's own official attempt.

You can download Metrotube from the Windows Phone Store for $0.99 (listed for both Windows Phone 7 and 8 -free trial available). A beta is also available on Windows 8, if you're interested. Developers, be sure to head on over to the Lazyworm website for more details on how to implement Metrotube support.