Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Blog Summary: This blog is a short guide to help readers understand the most significant features of a taxi booking app like Uber. It will take them through the Uber app’s operating process, features to integrate in an MVP, and how these features can help them create a competitive edge in the market. We’ll also explore how integrating Uber app features can enhance user experience and drive success in your taxi booking app venture.
The Uber app has become synonymous with a premium ride-hailing experience. Over the last few years, Uber has grown its operations from 300 cities to more than 10,000 worldwide cities today. By prioritizing safety and security for both riders and drivers, Uber has enabled its customers to reduce ground transportation costs by up to 10%.
Since its launch in 2010, Uber app features have enabled it to flourish its tech foothold and attracted its first 20,000 rides in just the first six months of its launch. In the first quarter of 2024, Uber has already left its biggest competitor, Lyft, behind, holding a 72% market share in the US.
When developing a taxi booking app, business owners should always prioritize providing an enriching experience to the riders. Uber continues to offer more incentivized features to its users through word of mouth and a promising social media strategy.
If you’re looking to build a similar Uber clone app for your taxi booking business, this blog will unveil some of the best features to incorporate for your MVP.
Uber is a phone app that connects passengers with drivers who either own vehicles or rent them. It allows users to register by adding their name and contact information. Once they have registered, the app sends an SMS to the user to verify their number.
Number verification is an essential Uber app feature of the registration process, as it becomes the basis of further communication. Then, users can start browsing the app by selecting their preferred language.
Users can then set their preferred payment method to pay for the rides they will book. Uber has a cashless payment system, making it easier for users and drivers to process payments after each trip. It profits by taking 25% off each driver’s payment.
Let’s understand how Uber operates the ride-booking processes:
Uber uses machine learning algorithms to estimate arrival and pickup times and locations. By assessing the earlier trips, it processes that information and utilizes it to display an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA).
Uber uses the ML algorithm platform Michaelangelo, which benefits engineers by automating data management, training, analyzing, and predicting.
The CoreLocation framework for the iOS platform is used to identify a user’s location. Similarly, Uber uses MapKit for iOS and Google Maps API for Android to provide instructions to the driver and users.
Uber typically sends three push notifications to its users;
Once the ride has arrived, full details of the taxi number plate, driver’s name, contact information, trip amount, and ETA are displayed.
Let our expert developers guide you in developing your next app with Uber app features.
Build an Uber Clone App
Uber is a ride-booking app that offers a wide range of features for its users to book rides by requesting and paying for them.
Currently, it operates across more than 10,000 cities worldwide, adding experiential features to its expanding user base. In the present era of AI-enabled transportation apps, you can start building your Uber clone MVP with the following Uber app features:
Booking a ride feature offers a handy option of “book now or later” that allows riders to choose a time when they want to book a taxi and schedule accordingly. As one of the primary features to incorporate, users can get easy access to the rides even in the future.
Real-time tracking is a significant feature for riders to keep track of where they are when on a ride. Integrating GPS location features contributes to increased user satisfaction when waiting for their rider to arrive at their pickup location or reach their destination.
ETA is a significant feature that calculates and displays drivers’ estimated time of arrival based on real-time traffic conditions and the distance between pickup and dropoff locations. This helps users gauge their rides and plan their schedules accordingly.
The fare estimation feature allows you to find out roughly what your trip will cost before requesting a ride. It allows you to set up your pickup location and destination, which provides quotes for your trip. The fare is calculated according to the approximate amount of time and distance to keep your receipt free of any surprises.
Paying via cash is not feasible for everyone, so cashless payments are a necessary feature to add. Some riders don’t carry cash with them, while others don’t want to enter card details for security reasons. Adding multiple payment options will allow users to select from online, offline, PO, and pre-paid rides and pay at their convenience.
Ridesharing is an extremely helpful feature that integrates and helps users share rides with others traveling in the same direction. It enables users to share their rides and split the fare among each rider, reduces traffic congestion, and offers affordable options.
It matches users who are looking for rides in the same direction, optimizing the routes and minimizing detours.
Uber’s business model ensures the safety of both riders and drivers. In fact, owners need to develop a real-time tracking feature to obtain a license for their taxi booking app. Riders can share their trip with their friends or family to let them know where they are heading at all times.
Similarly, Uber can also track drivers and riders using GPS tracking.
Driver ratings enable users to gauge the efficiency of their services. While they have many online resources to find out, ratings and reviews are the first sources they want to look into. Knowing the quality of services offered by the app and its drivers is crucial for users before they avail of any service.
Ratings and reviews give a good sense of services from the perspective of others who use the service.
In-app communication entails chat and call options within the app. Often, users want to connect with the drivers to learn their whereabouts. They can utilize the online chat option to connect with the drivers or call them and give them instructions to reach the pickup point if they find it difficult to locate the address.
Scheduled rides allow users to book a ride in advance by specifying their pickup and dropoff locations. You can also add multiple stops along the route for quick errands and picking up a friend instead of booking another ride.
When the scheduled time is near, the ride automatically gets assigned to a driver to ensure timely arrivals for important events like catching a flight.
The split fare feature allows riders to split their fare with their fellow passengers or friends. By simply choosing the option of “Split Fare” in the app when booking a ride, the app automatically splits the fare equally among each passenger.
Riders can choose from their contacts list with whom they want to split the fare, and each passenger will pay a small transaction fee.
The Uber app offers rewards and loyalty programs to incentivize and retain customers. Users gain credits for every amount spent on rides, which can be redeemed for discounts, free rides, or other perks. These programs enhance user engagement and loyalty, encouraging repeat usage of Uber’s services.
An app like Uber thrives on providing a reliable and seamless ride-booking experience to its users. Using AI and ML, Uber app features aim to bring more accuracy and precision in estimating trip times and provide better transportation solutions for everyone.
Building an Uber clone app goes beyond choosing and purchasing a car by clicking on web links. Rather, it involves determining the movement and car routes and optimizing all the interconnected parties, a highly complex process of modeling interactions across each party.
Since this market is evolving, having good features holds utmost importance. Here’s why:
Having useful features provides convenience to users who request a ride to book anytime and anywhere. They don’t have to wait for long hours at the taxi stands to search for taxis.
The intuitive interface and user-friendly Uber app features make booking easy and simple. Entering pickup and dropoff locations and confirming a request takes only a few clicks.
Uber offers transportation options across thousands of locations, providing users with a wide network of drivers. Users can access both urban and suburban locations.
A business model like Uber allows users to save time and money compared to traditional taxi services. Features like upfront cost estimates, price comparisons, and GPS tracking can help them do this.
Please consult with our expert developers to build real-time tracking features like the Uber app.
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The success of the Uber app is largely due to interactive features. Most importantly, its marketplace engineering stands out. Uber’s business model operates by utilizing its AI and ML technologies, which go beyond standard approaches, inputs, and navigation.
However, such a model should also be answerable in case of any accidents and debuggable through testing. It’s a challenging task as you need to do proper target audience research, find a market segment, and define a marketing strategy.
With Moon Technolabs, your next startup idea for developing a taxi booking app with Uber app features can be the smartest decision.
The features mentioned above are your go-to guide to start building your Uber clone MVP. If you are looking for reliable, experienced, and expert taxi developers, contact us to discuss your requirements.
Jayanti Katariya is the CEO of Moon Technolabs, a fast-growing IT solutions provider, with 18+ years of experience in the industry. Passionate about developing creative apps from a young age, he pursued an engineering degree to further this interest. Under his leadership, Moon Technolabs has helped numerous brands establish their online presence and he has also launched an invoicing software that assists businesses to streamline their financial operations.
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