Procure right methodologies to build Ride Hailing Apps like Uber/Lyft/Ola

G Kapildev
8 min readSep 5, 2019

In the present era, Uber’s on-demand service model is an apt one for most of the industries & their concerned niches. In 2008 two friends, travis kalanick and Garrett Camp discussed the idea of ride hailing app when they didn’t find a taxi after attending a meeting in Paris. The major niche for an on-demand solution is increasing every day. Most of the folks enhance the overall power of imagination & summarizes niche over an on-demand solution. The user can opt from a wide range of luxury cars where it is managed to please the upper class. This gigantic app is in greater demand nowadays!!

An intrinsic view

The main basis of the on-demand business model is a provocation of demand & initiating a supply to meet the right demands. A typical approach of planning an app development is headed towards industry over a primitive approach. Construct a sustainable model to accumulate the demand in the form of a mobile app for both service providers & customers.

Meeting of exclusive demand of users along with a solitary supply chain management is essential. Generally, demography plays a vital role in the overall launch of an enterprise. It is important to know about the straight forward targeting. Promote an app to concerned users & take feedback too. Work with the feedback & come with greater innovation instantly.

Strategize list of efficient features

More broadly, Uber businesses are made up of solitary mobile apps such as admin panel, driver app and a customer app. Each of the interveners owns a loop of features in typical categories like most viable features & advanced features. Possible revenue streams include the commission from drivers, ride amount from the commuters including the cancellation charges too.

Technologies used

The basic foundations included are a server, mapping, and payments for the development of a taxi app. Initially one needs to process user requests, driver routes and the data from the server. Different programming languages used are the Node.js, Mongo, Java, and PHP. A crucial element used is GPS. An Application Programming Interface can be used for both iOS & Android. The platform-specific tools can be Google Maps & Location services for Android. The adapters used for in-app payments are Stripe, Braintree and PayPal mobile SDK. For the concern of push notifications, Google Firebase is used for Android & Apple Push is used for the iOS devices. The available cloud communication platforms used are Plivo, Nexmo, & Tropo, etc.

User App Features

Track a ride

A passenger can track a ride, once the booking has been completed successfully. Then the driver moves directly to the pickup location. To explore how far the driver is from the concerned location, passengers can track each & everything with the aid of a map integrated into the app. The Uber-apps are the aptest one for monitoring of the trip & it provides a peculiar value proposition.

Ride History with Track Ride Option

Cost Estimation

The traveler can draw fare estimation for a ride on typical basis of both pickup & drop location. The tariff varies according to the selection of the car opted for a ride. When a passenger stops at different destinations in-between pickup, drop location it gets calculated at the end of the journey with the aid of the algorithmic program. Typical Uber-like app development has to mainly focus on this feature.

Fare Estimate Calculation

Different modes of Payment

For creating a taxi-hailing ecosystem & user-friendly one for the users, different modes of payment are used for paying the exclusive fees. The ride has all the rights to choose any type of payment such as credit card, debit card, cash, mobile & wallets, etc. To add it to nutshell, they offer different ranges of payment gateways is a major key factor to an effective Uber like app.

Multiple Payment Options

Smart Wallets

To pay the fare amount, a smart wallet can be used the riders. They can integrate these smarter wallet systems with the aid of bank accounts & transfer a certain amount.

Wallet Feature

Panic Button

To ensure 100% security of travelers, measures have been provided in the form of a panic button. While a passenger is on-board, a typical panic button gets enabled. Since safety is a typical big concern for passengers, Uber clone should have safety & security features. When they are out of comfort zone or in danger mode, they can make use of this button. This automatically sends a notification alert to nearer patrol station, concerned authorities & family members too. Here, each & every aspect is considered.

Driver App Features

Availability Status

Here, both the online & offline options are available, the drivers can decide whether to proceed on or give a pause. First, the driver’s status should be available to either accept or reject the ride requests.

Profile Management

More broadly, by using both exclusive web & app functions, the driver can manage profile details including photo, log in details & password, etc.

Bank account

The bank details can be updated in the typical app itself & admin will transfer earnings to their respective accounts.

In-app Payment Details

The driver can acknowledge the status of earnings through the exclusive app itself.

Caller Identification

The exact details such as username & address can be known instantly exactly where the request was sent.

Process of building Features strategically in an Uber-like mobile app

Typically developing an app like Uber is a huge process. Starting from the period of capturing the idea until the final release of a beta version of the app it is better to withstand yourself. An efficient way of developing an app like Uber is to think twice for the development beforehand. Processing of features is a mandatory one & considers enclosed challenges too. Initially, there are three major categories to start the development process. The important roles such as admin, driver including passenger are necessities of an app. Next, the most advanced features can be incorporated; this solitary version can be launched once headed towards the digital market.

Points to be noted for building an Uber-like Mobile App

The realistic way of building an app like Uber is to develop a basic version of the app & gain detailed knowledge in a step by step manner. Here, careful planning is required; in case of any fault, the entire plan will be destroyed. It is better to know about the precise innovation of both driver & passenger app. Once everything is clear, one can proceed with the advanced loop of features.

Then, attracting & retaining both drivers & customers for smooth functioning is the most important thing. For a better result, one needs to work on both of the features and functionalities. Not everyone has better hands-on experience along with the on-demand solution. The entire development process indulges a careful consideration of typical things. Lists of elements to build an app like Uber are User-friendly navigation, smooth user interface/ user experience designs, pleasing visuals and real-time functionality, etc.

The expense for development of a mobile app like Uber

It is essential for entrepreneurs to mainly focus on Return on Investment. For an expected turnover, one needs to know about the required investment.

Impact of features & operating system

Typically, there are three major possibilities where an individual can develop your Uber-like mobile app. Either of the options can opt like viable features, advanced features or a perfect blend of both. As everyone knows that iOS app provides some inconvenience when compared to that of Android app. It is based on the targeted audience & choice of device to select the right operating system. Rights are equalized for the audiences to have uniform ratio & one should launch an app for both exclusive platforms. Either it can be Android or iOS depending on customer’s preference.

The bias of technology & resources

While coding an app in Kotlin language can be a costlier one but it is trendier one. An individual can have the best choice along with both native & hybrid app development. If there is no technical knowledge from your side, just get help from the developers. It mainly involves the latest tools & technologies.

For the selection process, one should be more careful in the selection process. Then, have a comparison with the listed cost of the app development & finally come to a decision. An app development organization owns variables; there is a little bit ambiguity of the overall cost of developing a mobile app.

A feasible way to Outsource Developers

First, examine the scope of work & decide the dedicated resources for optimizing a mobile app for an enterprise. There is a list of a pricing model where one can choose from time-based, constant price including a series of dedicated resource hiring. Here, some of the models are entirely based on user’s demand, while others are determined by app development organization itself.

Focused Resource-based Hiring

While opting for a dedicated professional, it is mandatory to know the overall scope of work. To develop a basic version, a set of resources needed are User Interface designer, developers, QA, Back end developer including a project manager. The development of an advanced version is similar to the basic version, but just indulging an admin panel is needed here.

Hiring Dedicated Resources:

While going on a hiring dedicated resources model, you should make sure that the entire scope of work is very clear and you are not paying for the additional man hours.

To develop a basic Uber or Ola or Lyft like App, the resources combination will be,

- UI and UX developers

- 3 to 4 Programmers

- QA Engineer

- A Project Manager

- Business Analyst

- Backend Programmer

To develop an advanced version of Uber or Ola or Lyft like app, you will need a team of,

- Scrum Master for 15 hours per week

- Team or Project Manager

- Business Analyst

- 2 QA Engineers

- UI and UX developers

- 2 to 3 Front end developers

- 2 to 3 Back end developers

- DevOps Engineer.

There are many Uber like app companies available on internet but it is very essential to decide the right technical company to partner with. You may need to make sure that these companies have clients who is doing real time businesses with their software applications. We as a company were into developing this Ride Hailing application like Lyft or Uber or Ola for more than 4 years with lot of live portfolios online during real time businesses. We have many plans for our customers to start their business as a basic Uber like application or an Advanced platform of Uber like Application. Our product can be categorized both for small business owners and large business owners with more than 10000+ taxis online. Do you wish to hire a team of dedicated expert programmers for developing native Uber like App or go with our readily available solutions being used by millions of customers? Talk to us.

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