Thanks to the tremendous success of Uber that uberisation is now a term in itself. Back in 2009, Uber disrupted the traditional taxi-hailing service with its on-demand service model that led to big changes in the way businesses were carried out.
Today, Uber is undoubtedly the best taxi app running successfully in 600 cities and continues to dominate the ridesharing market. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts that speak for the success of Uber as a brand.
4 facts you should know about Uber
- Uber was worth around $90 billion in April 2019. (Source: BBC)
- Uber owns around 70% of the ride-hailing market in the US. (Source: Statista)
- Uber is operational in 65 countries. (Source: Uber S-1)
- Uber has over 75 million riders and 4 million drivers. (Source: Uber, Newsroom)
Looking carefully at Uber’s on-demand service model, one can easily figure out how it can be applied to other industries too. If you’re here to know how to create an app like Uber, it’s the right place for you. The idea behind penning down this post is to tell others what goes behind creating a successful ride-sharing app like Uber.
Let’s get started:
How Uber works?
Before we talk about the features and technicalities, it’s important for you to know how an app like Uber works and operates on a basic level.
Step 1: Trip request: A customer makes a trip request or schedules a ride through the Uber app. Once the vehicle is selected, estimated trip fare info is given to him.
Step 2: Matching: Nearby drivers are matched with the request. They can accept or decline. If declined, the request is sent to another driver.
Step 3: Ride tracking: The customer gets to track and know the estimated time before the driver arrives and even during the ride.
Step 4: Payment: The payment process takes place in the app itself with multiple payment options to choose from.
Step 5: Rating: After the ride is completed, the customer is asked to rate his experience in stars.
The number of apps you need
Now that you know how Uber-like apps work, let’s see what happens BTS. Usually, a taxi-sharing service like Uber runs on two apps with different functionalities interconnected with an admin panel.
Uber consists of three mobile apps:
- The customer app
- The driver app
- The admin app
Let’s move forward and discover the basic and advanced features needed for these apps.
Essential features to build an Uber-like app for customers
#1. Register/Log-in via social media: Gives the option to register via an email address, phone number, Facebook with verification.
#2. Booking: This feature allows the customer to enter the address, set pick-up and drop location, and choose the car.
#3. Tracking: It gives an option to customers to track the driver before arrival and monitor the journey once the cab is boarded.
#4. Fare estimation: It gives a rough estimate of the total fare depending on the pick up and drop location.
#5. Push notifications: They keep customers informed about the driver’s arrival and other important info in real-time.
#6. Payment integration: This feature allows customers to make in-app payments via credit cards, debit cards, and services like PayPal.
#7. Call/text driver through the app: It allows you to contact the driver through the app itself.
#8. Driver’s ratings & reviews: It gives you an idea of the driver’s ability and behavior.
#9. Panic button: It is a safety feature in the app to ensure the safety of passengers.
Advanced features for the customer app
- Schedule a ride in advance
- Book for others
- Split charges
- Smart wallets
Essential features to build an Uber-like app for drivers
#1. Driver profile: An Uber profile is created after verifying documents like driving license, insurance papers, etc.
#2. Trip alert: This feature allows the driver to view the passenger’s location and route so that he can accept or deny the ride.
#3. Navigation & Route optimization: It helps the driver to take the best route using Google Maps.
#4. Push notifications: These are the alerts to inform the driver about the trip booking, cancellation, etc
#5. Driver’s delivery reports: This feature is the summary of total trips, earnings, and related information.
Advanced features for the customer app
- Quest earnings
- Heat maps
- Forward dispatch
The Admin Panel in Uber
Last but not least, let’s talk about the app for the Admin Panel that acts as the central point between the customers and drivers.
The web-based panel is mainly developed to manage customers, drivers, locations, payments, payouts, and other business processes. It also takes care of the driver-user management, booking and fare calculations, managing payrolls and overlooking promotions and discounts.
Apart from this, other important elements to keep in mind while building an app like Uber are:
- User-friendly navigation
- Smooth UI/UX designs
- Pleasing visuals and graphics
- Real-time functionality
How much does an app like Uber costs?
Now the most important question: How much does it cost to develop an app like Uber? Honestly, the answer to this question largely depends on the following factors:
- Number and complexity features
- Design preferences
- Technology and platforms being used
- Size of the development team
- Backend development
- Web development (Admin panel)
- Project management
- Quality assurance
- Business analysis
- Marketing and promotional efforts
Applify has gathered quite an experience of developing Uber-like or taxi-hailing mobile apps for multiple platforms. To give a rough estimate, it usually takes around 4500-5000 hours to build an Uber-like app. The most important factor is to choose the right service provider and know their hourly rates which will vary depending on their expertise and experience.
Do you have an idea to build an Uber-like app or simple taxi-hailing apps? Talk to our experts and request a quote here.
Also, you can read our article How to reduce the cost of mobile app development.
