Valuable Pointers to Turbo Charge your Uber-like App Development

Uber has radically changed the face of the taxi app service market with the introduction of its on-demand services and use of advanced technologies. It can be clearly considered as one of the best apps for taxi drivers. Traditional taxis who displayed shrewd hooliganism in their behavior were now reduced to mere puppets at the hands of such online app-based taxi services. Not surprisingly, these yellow cabs charged Uber and similar apps with an accusation of unfair competition.

The operational model of yellow cabbies had some serious loopholes, and with the introduction of the seemingly perfect Uber, their income saw a decrease, and many even switched to app based cabs to earn their bread. The ones who couldn't adapt to the idea of a foreigner taking over their age-old business started anti-Uber campaigns. But to remain in the market, in the long run, they will eventually have to adapt and inculcate the changing developments. Many uber like app development projects have come into focus for this very reason to earn a fast source of income in this growing market.

These are a few tips for those looking to build an uber like app development facility:

• An efficient System of GPS Utilization- Uber uses GPS to map out the best route its drivers should take to reach a destination, for fare calculation purposes, etc.
  In your Clone app, routing and GPS technology should be properly utilized in order to provide your customers with high-end and precision-based service quality.

For iOS, CoreLocation framework can be used for region monitoring; MapKit is used to suggest the best route. For Android, Google Location services API is used to pinpoint the location of the rider and Google Maps Android API is used to chalk out the best possible route that can be taken by the driver.

• Different Interfaces- For uber like app development, you would have to develop two different interfaces for the same app- one for the driver and the other for the rider. These two would be connected to the main server (admin portal).

For the Passenger App:

1. The first page should contain the register /login options. While signing in the rider would have to update his details such as name contact number, etc.
2. If he wishes to pay using an online payment system inbuilt in the app, he would have to fill in his card details. The admin should ensure the rider of a secure storage of the card details protected from external hacks.
3. There should be an efficient and justified system of fare calculation wherein an estimate of the cab fare according to the destination set is provided to the rider.
4. A proper mode of the feedback and rating of the driver and the vehicle should be provided to the rider in the uber like app development
5. The information of the driver, vehicle type, contact number, car number should be easily accessible by the rider.
6. The rider should be able to view his previous rides and a proper option where he can submit information about the problems faced by him and demand redressal of the same.
   
   

For The Driver Interface:

1. The best apps for taxi drivers should have login features and receive regular notifications in case of surge pricing.
2. They should be required to provide their license and tax number. 
3. They should be able to accept any incoming ride orders as well as cancel them.
4. They should have information about the payment details of the riders, best route to be taken to reach the destination, etc.
5. They should be able to view their average ratings, earnings as well as payroll.

• Ridesharing- The clone app should provide the facility of splitting the bill with fellow riders. The riders should also be able to request specific drivers from their history if rides.
  
  

• Main Panel- The main admin panel of the best apps for taxi drivers should be very efficient and free of unnecessary clutter. It should be the master server where you can manage review and store all the data regarding the rider, driver, navigation details, revenue management, and payment synchronization, etc.
  
  
• Chat Window- There should be a chat window open for the rider and the driver only for the duration of the ride which would be active as soon as the ride gets confirmed. The rider could contact the driver with the help of this chat window where he could guide the latter as to the pick-up details.
  
  
• Waitlist Facilities- Riders should be able to add themselves to a waitlist wherein a ride would automatically become available to them by their position on the list.
• Payment Avenues- The facility of in-app payment is a must in the best apps for taxi drivers. Secure methods should be used to store the customer’s card details or else the customers won’t trust you. The introduction of an online payment model reduced the need to carry loose change or provide the drivers with unnecessary tips. Your pricing should depend on certain factors which should be clearly intimated to the rider. The model adopted by Uber is the dynamic price model.
  
  
• Surge Pricing- Now let us address the elephant in the room. Do we include the surge pricing feature or not in the best apps for taxi drivers? It depends on the traffic situation, the demand, the demographic customer base, the position of your company as compared to your competitors, the actions of your competitors, etc.
  
  

• In-App Payment- For your in-app payments, consider the following points:

1. You could use Braintree or Authorize.net for your payment integration into the app. It offers the PayPal integration. 
   
   
2. Stripe is an excellent and a powerful API to customize these features for your app. Choose a model which accepts both credit card as well as PayPal account payments.
   
   

• Design and Accessibility -The best app for taxi driver should have a friendly interface and should be attractive at the same time. It should not be ambiguous.
  
  

1. The sign-up /login pages should be carefully developed. You can also include the feature of "do not create my profile right now" where the users have the option of browsing through your app for a time limit before they can sign up. The registration should be confirmed via email.
   
   
2. You may add special bonuses, incentives in referrals which will attract the potential customer base to your app and the existing customers to be loyal to your app.
   
   
3. The registration of the driver should be an all-encompassing affair wherein every detail about the driver should be known, and a thorough background check should be conducted. Your drivers will be the face of your company and be very strict when you hire them because even a single unfavorable activity can be fatal to your company image.
   
   
4. The best apps for taxi drivers often have a proper rating system inbuilt in it where both the drivers and the riders have to rate each other at the end of the trip. This enhances the system of instant feedback.
5. Communication- proper modes of communication should be established between the two entities- riders and the drivers. For this, you could use Firebase framework for your app. Your local telecom provider can also be contacted to provide your passengers with a mode of sending apps.
   
   

The future of your app would finally depend on the platforms you wish to support whether it will be Android, iOS or the web, your core priorities, etc. One final pointer to note is that irrespective of the feature you add in, all the components (layout, navigation, functionalities etc.) should work cohesively towards one singular aim – to elevate the overall user experience.