How to Build An App Like Uber

Uber Like App Development

Uber’s success story is indeed enviable. Within a short period, the startup transformed itself into the world’s largest ride-app sharing company and became the world’s most valuable startup brand. Uber is currently available in over 85 countries on six continents.

Numerous factors are crucial in determining the success of Uber. Compared to conventional cab service, Uber offers convenience, excellent customer service, and driver rating — which enables improved quality control and the ability to know the estimated arrival time of the drivers.

Due to these factors, Uber has become immensely popular among startups aspiring to emulate its model to create similar apps. Some well-known Uber-like apps are Lyft, Easy Taxi, Grab, IDrive, Careem, Gett, and Flywheel.

This article highlights the critical elements required to create an Uber-like app.

How does Uber work?

Registration

Users must register and create a personalized account in the Uber app by providing their email addresses. Users can also register through phone numbers, Gmail, or Facebook accounts.

Booking

A rider books a ride by mentioning their pickup location and destination and selecting their preferred type of car. The app displays an estimated fare.

Driver request

The app then searches for drivers near the pickup location. Once the driver accepts the ride, the app sends a confirmation notification to the rider. The rider can monitor the driver’s route in the estimated arrival time provided by the app.

Payment method

Uber shares payment details with the rider before booking. A rider can pay for the ride through any cashless medium like a credit/debit card and PayPal supported by Uber, or you can also pay in cash.

Push notifications

Notifications allow riders to stay informed about driver and vehicle details, arrival timings, and discount offers.

Rating

Rating is a crucial element of Uber’s business strategy. Riders can review and rate drivers according to their preferences, such as the driver’s professionalism, the vehicle’s condition, or the overall trip.

Ride history

Customers view the details about the entire ride history stored inside the app.

Customer support

The customer support team is available 24/7 to help customers with issues.

The development process for Uber-like app

The following are the key elements involved in the development of Uber-like apps.

Research

Uber offers cutthroat competition. Therefore, it is essential to research the market. You can conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis and observe competitors’ strategies and business models.

Define your target audience

You should survey the market demographics, define your target audience, and create a unique selling proportion (USP). Your USP should highlight how the app differs from competitors, which unique features it contains, and what solutions it can provide to users.

Adequate platform

Your developers should choose an appropriate platform for the app. You should keenly assess the features and functionality of different platforms before deciding, and also check whether your target audience prefers to use Android or iOS.

Hire a team of experts

Make sure you hire an expert team of travel app developers to develop your app. They should have vast experience, exhibit creativity, and work with precision.

Key elements of Uber

We have highlighted some of the vital elements of Uber that are also essential for the development of an Uber-like app.

Geolocation

Cab booking apps use GPS technology like geolocation for mapping and navigation. Uber uses this technology used to identify the location of the driver and also facilitates the driver to detect the location of the rider. Uber uses CoreLocation for iOS and Google’s location APIs in Android to identify a location. For directions to the driver, Uber uses MapKit for iOS users and Google Maps Android API for Android users. Although Google Maps offer integration with Uber’s iOS and Android versions, Uber also buys mapping software from other teams.

Payments

Currently, apps use the latest technology to facilitate cashless financial transactions, ensuring smoothness and security and mitigating human errors.

Uber uses a fare calculator to calculate the estimated fare, depending on factors such as base fare, cost per minute, cost per mile, and safe rides fee.

Most importantly, the company must comply with a particular set of requirements to authorize digital payments. In the US, you can integrate a cashless payment system in your app after receiving the PCI (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) certification. You can also avail of the services of payment gateway providers such as Braintree and Stripe, used by Uber and Lyft, respectively. Uber uses Braintree to process its cashless transactions.

Push notifications and messaging

Push notifications and messaging are critical features of a ridesharing app. Push notifications and messaging allow companies to communicate with customers in real-time and have higher customer engagement. They enable companies to notify users about the ride-booking confirmation, a driver’s route, the driver’s arrival, and ride cancellation.

You can use Apple Push Notification Service (APN) to send notifications to iOS devices and use Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to notify Android users. SMS notifications are essential if the user does not receive push notifications. Uber uses Twilio to send SMS notifications to riders.

Registration and rider profile

If you intend to create an Uber-like app, it would be best to authorize users to register and create their profiles. Uber offers seamless registration through Facebook, Google, or email ID. Registration and profiles are an ideal way to keep track of your customer base and allow users to make the best use of the app.

Ride cost estimator

Ride cost is a decisive factor for users when booking a ride, and the ride cost estimator estimates the trip’s cost in advance. Your team of software developers should develop an algorithm to evaluate the user’s pickup location and destination price.

Book a ride for others

This advanced feature enables users to book a ride for their family or friends from another location. Your family or friend will be notified through SMS when you book a ride.

Schedule a ride

This feature allows users to book a ride within 30 days. Adding this feature to your app could help your app in standing out from other uber-like apps.

Primary features of an Uber-like app

Your Uber-like app will combine three contrasting interfaces — the rider app, the driver app, and the main admin panel.

Key features of the rider app

• A registration feature can enable riders to register through email and social media.
• Ride booking allows users to book a cab, enter their pickup location, and select a car type.
• The price fare calculator gives an estimated fare for the ride based on the number of kilometers, duration, and car type.
• The ride tracking option allows riders to monitor the driver’s journey in real time.
• Payment method allows users to conduct cashless transactions smoothly via various methods such as credit/debit cards, PayPal, and internet banking.
• Push notifications allow users to receive instant messages from the app, such as driver arrival timings, discounts, and others.
• Messaging allows effortless communication between the rider and driver.
• Driver ratings and app reviews are meant to improve the overall app.
• Ride history saves the entire ride history of users in the app.
• Customer support assists riders when they face an issue.

Key features of the driver app

• Driver profile and status provide complete information about the driver and his availability.
• Ride alert will immediately notify the driver about incoming ride requests, the rider’s pickup location, and the travel route. They can accept or reject it accordingly.
• Push notifications notify drivers about the route and booking information.
• Route and navigation optimization enables drivers to take the best possible route with minimal traffic to reach the pickup location.
• Reports indicate details of a driver’s daily, weekly, and monthly earnings.
• Messaging and calling feature allows the driver to communicate with riders seamlessly.

Key features of the admin panel

The admin app interface allows the owner to control and track the app’s activities. It effectively organizes and manages the app’s processes, ensuring functionality and smooth integration.

• Some standard features of the admin app include:
• Booking management
• Fare management
• Vehicle management
• Location management
• Notification management
• Ratings and reviews
• Promotions and discounts management
• Customer service

Tech stack for Uber-like apps

You need a particular set of technologies for creating uber-like apps. The following list contains some essential apps necessary for creating an Uber-like app. However, whether you need all of them or a few depends on the requirement and complexity of your app.

• Kotlin
• Swift
• Java
• Python
• Amazon EC2
• Firebase
• Google Maps
• Google Directions
• Google Places
• Twilio
• APNS
• Facebook SDK
• Maps SDK
• Paypal/Stripe
• Card.io
• Socket.io

How much does an Uber-like app cost?

The cost of building an Uber-like app will depend on various factors. These factors typically include the following:

• Number and depth of features
• Technology stack
• App platform type — Android or iOS, or both
• UI/UX design
• Company type — startup or cab service
• Development team — capabilities, location, and rates
• Integrations

After considering the costs for these factors, you ought to allocate a budget ranging from $60,000 to $115,000. You will also need an admin panel costing around $15,000.

Final Thoughts

Countless factors have to be taken into account when you decide to create an Uber-like app. These factors include cost, competition, target customers, and user experience, among many others. Despite the breakneck competition, there are still chances of success. You can focus on your app’s unique selling proportion (USP) and may want to target a niche market to accomplish your goal.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time does it take to build an Uber-like app?

Various factors are involved in building an app, such as multiple developers, their abilities, and the kinds of technology. In normal circumstances, creating an Uber-like app may take 5 to 6 months.

How much does it cost to create an Uber-like app?

Creating an Uber-like app will cost you somewhere between $60,000 to $115,000.

How does Uber work?

Uber works in 5 key steps, and they include: Booking, driver search, and matching ride, payment, and rating,

Which programming languages does Uber use?

Uber uses languages such as Python, Node.js, Go, and Java.