Even if you haven’t had the opportunity to use a cab service ever, I’m sure you must have heard about Uber.
For those living under the rock, it is a car/ taxi booking app that you can use on your computer or mobile phone on the go.
As the largest ride-sharing app, it’s been employed by over 150 million users worldwide every month.
With an average of 28 million trips per day, Uber continues to grow as a preferred way of travelling and day-to-day transportation, especially in urban and traffic-congested towns.
What made it such a successful app in the last decade or so, or since its inception back in 2010, apart from its user-friendliness, is the number of features it offers to its users, including drivers and cab seekers alike.
From sharing the rides to splitting the fares with other riders, paying online to rating the drivers, and tracing the location to keeping a record of all your rides, all of this and much more can be done using a single app.
How Does Uber App Work?
Like any other app, Uber can be downloaded for free via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on your iPhone or Android.
Once downloaded and installed, you can use it to connect it with other riders and drivers on demand.
Here’s the complete process to book a ride using Uber:
- Open the app
- Enter your destination in the “Where to?” box
- Choose the best option of ride depending on the vehicle, price, size, and the estimated time of drop-off, and then hit confirm.
- The App will help you connect with a driver or cab that is closest to your area at the time of booking.
- Once confirmed, simply wait for the cab to arrive at the pick-up point, which should take just a couple of minutes or three.
- For easy contact, the app will also provide you with the details of the driver should you want to make a call.
- Board your cab and enjoy the ride.
- Pay online for a cashless payment.
- Leave reviews or tip the driver directly through the app.
As you can see, the Uber app comes with every feature that you may think of when using a cab or taxi service for hire.
So, when building an app like Uber, don’t forget to add these features to make it useful for clients and end-users.
What Primary Features are Required to Build an App like Uber?
Available in over 900 cities worldwide, Uber is packed with all the latest features that may be required to run an instant ride-sharing platform.
Before you start building an equally appealing app like Uber, you must know your audience and conduct the initial research.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Know your target audience.
- Define your business model.
- Determine the features.
- Hire an expert app development company.
- Deploy and market your product.
- Update and modify your app.
- Secure your app from fraud and scams.
Now that you know the basic steps to build a taxi-booking app like Uber, let’s take a closer look at some of the most important features that must be involved.
Basic Features of a ride-booking app like Uber:
- Account Registration and Profile Management
- GPS for Geolocation and Routing
- Intuitive and simple cab booking/ cancellation process
- Fare calculation and estimate of cost
- Online payment gateway integration
- 24/7 Support and communication
- Navigation and tracking
- Time of arrival and drop-off
- Push Notifications
- Advanced ride-scheduling
- Multi-seat booking
- Ratings & Reviews
Apart from these must-haves, certain advanced features can up the ante for your competitors in the world of online cab booking. Some of these are:
- Fare splitting
- Book for a friend or others
- Voice Command
- Trip scheduling
- Cash payments
- Ticket validation
- Tipping system
While considering these features will certainly help you boost your app’s functionality and popularity, to be on the safer side, you might want to start easy with the features.
Instead of developing a full-scale model, you should add only the most key or core features to your app along with a few complementary secondary features that would enhance the functionality of the former.
The thumb rule is to keep things simple and intuitive for end-users.
Another thing to remember when developing a ride-sharing app is the different types of users including the riders, drivers, and administrators that would use the app in the first place.
The point is, for every type of user a different set of features and applications will apply. I am sure a good app development company will be well aware of that and discuss it with you during the initial understanding of your project.
At the same time, there is no harm in getting familiar with the tools and technologies that the app development agency would most probably use.
Tech Stack Required to Build an App like Uber/Lyft
Building an app like Uber or Lyft may require a variety of tools and technologies to handle or achieve its different aspects.
As I said earlier, depending on the version of the app, whether it’s for the riders, drivers, or the owner, the features may vary as well.
In general, you’d require a mobile app development software or programming tool such as Swift or Objective-C for iOS and Java or Kotlin for an Android app.
As far as the backend development is concerned, several frameworks, databases, and languages can be used depending on your project.
For mapping and geolocation, Google Maps or Mapbox and geolocation services such as GPS, core location for iOS, and Google Location Services may be used.
To handle online payments and card information of the clients, a secure payment gateway such as Stripe or Braintree will be employed. Other than that, an SSL or TSL layer for added security, data encryption, and regular security audits will also be involved in a ride-sharing app development process.
WebSocket Protocol for real-time communication between riders and drivers.
Cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or Microsoft Azure for hosting, storing, and delivering the data when required.
Speaking of it, analytics tools such as Google Analytics or the like are used for monitoring, debugging, and understanding user behavior and the app’s real-time performance.
Along with that, a good app developer may also utilize other DevOps tools for automation, data protection, and continuous development.
Step-By-Step Process to Build an App like Uber
An app development process for a taxi-booking service can be summed up in as less as 4 easy steps:
- Research and Planning
- Documentation or Wireframing
- Design and Development
- Testing and Deployment
However, in a broader sense, here is the complete step-by-step guide to help you get familiar:
Step 1: Thoroughly research the market and your audience and then plan accordingly.
Step 2: Conceptualize or Wireframe the key aspects of your app such as user registration, ride booking, driver matching, payment processing, and so on. Also, create a blueprint or mockup of your app to visualize its design and user interface.
Step 3: Choose the right tech, tools, and frameworks for scalability, performance, security, maintenance, etc.
Step 4: Develop backend processes and API integration for authentication, booking, dispatching, tracking, payment, etc.
Step 5: Build separate applications for passengers and drivers.
Step 6: Integrate a secure payment gateway.
Step 7: Test to ensure the highest quality of the app.
Step 8: Deploy and launch the app in real-time on app stores.
Step 9: Don’t forget to market your app.
Step 10: Ongoing maintenance and monitoring.
How many App Interfaces are Required to Build an App like Uber?
As I mentioned earlier, a ride-sharing app like Uber is meant to be used by several types of candidates, including drivers, riders, and administrators.
herefore, when building a car-booking app, you’d require about 3 interfaces at least. To be specific,
1. A passenger or rider interface featuring:
- User-registration and login.
2. A driver or chauffeur interface includes features such as:
- Driver registration and login.
- Dashboard for managing ride requests and so on.
- Mapping for navigation.
- Earnings and payment information.
- Profile management.
3. & An admin interface for those who’d manage the app or platform with features including:
- Dashboard for monitoring the overall system.
- Management tools for users and drivers.
- Analytics tools for reporting and tracking key performance metrics (KPIs).
- Content management tools.
- Customer service and support tools.
Depending on the interface and features, the price of making an app for a car-booking service may also vary.
How Much Does it Cost to Build an App like Uber?
For building an app like Uber, the total cost may fall anywhere between $100,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on various factors.
Some of these factors include the complexity of the app or the features, the technology used for developing the app, and the size of the team of developers that you have hired to build and look after the app.
Here’s a rough estimate and breakdown of the total cost:
- 1. Cost of hiring an app development team- $50,000 to $150,000/year.
- 2. Cost of tools and technologies used- $20,000 to $200,000.
- 3. Cost of infrastructure- $5,000 to $20,000 per year.
- 4. Additional costs- $5,000 to $50,000 per year.
Needless to say, to get the best value for money, and most importantly, to build an app of your preference, hiring a good app development company is all you need.
Hire An Expert Team for Creating Uber like App in USA
While there are tons of companies and freelancers all around, some of the best app development companies come from, you guessed it, the Silicon Valley in the USA.
Known for their technological advancements and prowess around the world, the USA has given birth to some of the most successful IT firms that date back to the earliest digitalisation era.
Among them is our expert team of tecHindustan, which is well-known in the app-making industry in the USA, India, and many other locations.
Serving across the globe with their technical expertise, tecHindustan has made a remarkable impact on the global app-building sector, with thousands of clients and projects in their name in under a decade or so.
With a marvelous 4.97 rating out of 5 on Reviews, tecHindustan has helped dozens of businesses gain substantial earnings with their digital products, including mobile apps for a diverse lot of companies.
Among their long line of clients and partners are names such as Swedish House Mafia, Adani, WebMD, Emerald, and so on.
With a simple and non-robotic approach of assessing or listening to your needs first, then strategizing for the same, and finally executing and monitoring it all along, tecHindustan can give you a viable return on your investment (ROI) anytime.
Experienced in a wide range of industries, including e-commerce, travel, fintech, and education, tecHindustan may very well be the safest hands in which you can place the task of building and developing your car-sharing app.
FAQs
Q 1. How much time does it take to build an app like Uber or Lyft?
Ans: A basic or functional MVP or Minimum Viable Product app that includes only the most basic or core features may take 1-3 months to build for testing and usability. A fully-functional enterprise app, on the other hand, may take between 3-8 months, depending upon how complex it is.
Q 2. What is the price of building an app like Uber in the US?
Ans: As the technical hub of the entire world, building an Uber-like app in the US may cost up to $500,000 or more for high-end features.
Q 3. What programming language does Uber use?
Ans: Available for both Android and iOS across the globe, the Uber app is based on a combination of technologies and languages, including Python, Golang, Java, Node.js, Swift/ Objective-C, Kotlin, Rust, and JavaScript such as React or Redux that can be tailored to your specific needs and preferences.