How to Develop an On-Demand Taxi App like Uber?

The year 2009 was the dawn of a revolutionary game-changer in the world of transportation. A new niche in the sharing economy market, UBER was founded. Resonating the title to the ?T?, it rapidly gained popularity and grew to become one of the leading online transportation network companies that took the whole world on a whirlwind ride.

The traditional cab hiring system fell under the luxury-comfort category prior to Uber?s advent. This application has made the life of a common man much simpler by providing the means to an affordable door-to-door rental transportation service. The demand for reliable and comfortable transportation is increasing by the minute leading to a giant surge in the ridesharing market in the past couple of years. Even the pandemic hit times saw that in the second quarter of 2020, 55 million people worldwide used the Uber app on a monthly basis.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, there can?t be a bigger role model than Uber to make big bucks and carve a niche out for them. The below article provides you with all the information that you will require to build a ride-sharing app.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make an app like Uber?

1. Find your Cranny

The Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is extremely important for a niche like this. But apart from that, you need to find a unique niche in the taxi booking app market which you can explore and also has a comparatively lower rate of competition.

2. Conduct Technical Audit & Research

Study and accumulate all the required information from the technologies used to what are the improvisations required to make the app more effective and efficient.

3. Create documentation for your Taxi booking app

A detailed document consisting of specifications regarding the technical and functional aspects of the app, its architecture, and structure, and the technological infrastructure needs to be put in black and white.

4. Develop your Taxi booking app

Divide and Conquer should be your game plan here. Segregate the project into different tasks and start implementing each task based on their priority. Once done, test each unit to find any logical errors and fix them pronto.

5. Launch your taxi-booking app

Launch your app on the live platform to ensure that it is not hostile to any environment(android/iOS).

Before you dive right into developing your Uber-like app, it is important to understand the functionalities and nuances of the application. Let?s start with the basics.

Basic Business Flow of an online Taxi Booking:

Features of a Taxi Booking App

1) Passenger Features:

• Passenger Features:
• Core Features
• Registration
• Booking Panel
• Push notifications
• Ride History
• Fare Calculator
• Payment gateway
• Driver`s review and rating

Advanced features:

• Advanced features
• Vehicle Selection
• Inbuilt messenger and call feature
• Gamification
• Interactive Map and Tracking System
• Discount and offers
• Voice Recognition
• Panic Button
• Saving destinations
• Split payment

2) Driver features:

• Driver features:
• Registration
• Status bar
• Order alert
• Navigation and Route optimization
• Estimation
• Earnings tab
• Reviews and Ratings
• Trip Planner

3) Admin Panel:

The core of the application, a web-based dashboard that is responsible for managing the overall operations and bookkeeping. It stores databases and manages passengers’ and drivers’ activities. The dashboard basically gives an overview of all the processes, provides logistics of drivers and trips, and manages the financial aspects. It can also be linked to third party analytics tools like Google Analytics to monitor marketing activity.

Things to keep in mind while developing an Uber-like App:

1. Satisfactory User Experience:

The key point that needs utmost attention. The UX (User Experience) strategy needs to fail-proof. Everything from planning, designing, and execution should be tread on with careful steps. Analyze, compare, brainstorm, innovate, and optimize your application to provide the best-in-business experiences.

2. User-friendly Interface:

UI(User Interface) needs to be as engaging and welcoming as possible. It has to be built in such a way that the user should be engrossed and find it easy to interact with. It should efficiently guide him through its operations as this will act as the cover of the book by which that book will be judged.

3. Uninterrupted Navigation:

Navigating through your app needs to be flawless. One glitch and you lose the interest of the client. Develop your app to provide a consistent experience throughout the user?s journey.

4. Apt Visuals and Animations:

The graphics need to be to-the-point and pleasing to the eyes. The app should look unique and at the same time sophisticated.

5. Real-time Tracking System:

The heart of the transportation service is the maps. And without a real-time tracking system integrated into your app, consider it a failure. This feature needs to track where the driver is, where the user?s pickup point is, track an ongoing ride and most of all it should not succumb to higher load input.

What will it cost to build an app like Uber?

Building an app is a lengthy process and involves a lot of carefully laid planning and execution. You have three viable options at your disposal to develop your app.

1. You can build your app all by yourself
2. Hire someone to develop it for you
3. Purchase a readymade Uber Clone Script

Either way, you will require the perfect set of experts with the right skills to execute your vision. The cost of developing an Uber-like app depends solely on these factors.

So, let?s see what are all the required technical skills and expertise required to build a taxi booking app that supports android and iOS applications.

a) Skills and experts required for Web Development:

• Common skills: HTML 5, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, JQuery, Linux etc.
• Tech Stack: LAMP, MEAN, MERN, Python, etc.
• APIs: API integration for SMS, email, Push notifications, MAPs, Live Chat, etc.
• Frameworks: Frameworks for Front-end and Back-end: Laravel, Bootstrap, etc.
• Image-processing tool: Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, etc.
• SEO: Meta tags, descriptions, SEO friendly URLs, etc.
• Quality Assurance: Testing and documentation
• Documentation: Technical Writers

b) Skills and experts required for Mobile Apps:

• Android: Java and HTML 5
• iOS: Objective C, Swift
• Corresponding database for each
• API integrations for Maps, Push Notifications, SMS, etc.
• Designing frameworks: Material themes etc.
• Quality Assurance: Testing and documentation
• Documentation: Technical Writers

If you are adept with all the above skill set then there is no need to delay your process any further. But if you want to hire a team that can build a winning app then this will be your check-list of the Experts you will require for the job.

• Project Managers
• QA engineers
• UI and UX designer
• Coders
• Backend Developers
• Android and iOS developers
• Marketing experts
• Technical Writers

The above lengthy list of requirements proves to put a burning hole in your pocket. For a start-up, it is too costly an affair to indulge in building an app from scratch, on its own. Hence the second-best option is to purchase a cost-effective Uber Clone Script.

The most trending businesses now are ready-made software solutions. The business owners invest in the products? clone scripts that are in demand and develop them in-house. The clone-scripts are then sold to customers at lesser and more affordable prices to make-even their invested capital.

Example: Gen-x Uber Clone has developed an Uber-like clone script with the same amount of research and investment that an individual would personally put in developing the app from scratch.

Buying and developing your business from a clone script definitely proves efficient in terms of investments in time, money, and resources. You can rather invest in customization and optimization of the apps and make better usage of your resources.

This in-depth guide on how to make an app like Uber should have helped you chalk out a plan and the steps to achieve your target. If you need any assistance in building your plan into a viable product, do get in touch with us.

We will help you attain your vision!

Read Also: