How to Build a Good Taxi Booking App like Uber

In 2022, practically most mobile users already installed one taxi booking app on their cell phones. When we are talking about creating a good taxi booking app or taxi booking app development – then at first in our mind comes one thing which is “Uber”. This is now a synonym of a taxi booking app.

More often, we hear about the word “Uberisation” which is piping from the Uber taxi service. Gaining the customer’s trust and cheapest transportation makes real success for the business. Uber has escalated up to $12 billion in sales and holds the second most unorthodox business in the world.

The main thing is that Uber is available in 66+ countries covering over 560+ big cities, which makes Uber the most successful and the best taxi service. In the competition with other taxi booking applications like- Lyft, Gett, etc. applications, Uber is leading all over them.

If you can take over your objectives and goals of creating an Uber-like application, then you have the best IT companies to do the job or you can hire the best developers who help you in it.

Uber has set the trend to invest more money in these types of app building. If you have the dream to develop this type of app or Android app, then this blog is for you. First of all, we need to understand how the app works, meaning functionality, and the components needed. Create a good taxi app, we must prefer you need to hire a developer for this work. Now let’s see the next point which is listed below.

How Does Uber work?

The exceptional thing about the Uber-like app is the five steps that make a revolution in the market of taxi services history. To finish a ride it takes five steps. Taxi apps mainly have these five following steps:

1. Request. Starting the app the passenger needs to enter the starting and the endpoint. Then the payment method is chosen by the user. Additional services are also requested by the client.

2. Matching. Next at this point, there are two cases that happen, in this case, the driver obtains the user’s request and can take the order. Then the user/passenger is able to see all details about the car like the car number, model, driver’s rating, etc. The user is also able to see the arrival time, the car’s movement and everything on the screen. In the case of rejection, this request is appointed to the next driver.

3. Ride. This system has a tracker. If you are late then it tracks it. After sitting in the car the cab driver sends a signal to the system server. Therefore the tracking begins. You also monitor the car where it is going in real-time.

4. Payment. In this payment system, the app permits the users to connect their payment cards to the app. Good thing is that the user already knows the cost of the ride and this is taken after the ride is over.

5. Rating. This is the best option for both the driver and user. They can leave their rating of each other. This helps inform other users about the driver’s driving skills and communication behavior.

Needed technology:

If you want to launch these types of applications that have the difficulty in both user and server-side development is not an easy task to do. It needed a central and main server that maintains the multi-users at a time (in our app users/passengers and drivers) and performs the calculations like matching, calculating the cost of a ride, ETA, commissions, and many more, as well as the data storage and the business logic. Uber is using geographically distributed servers to boost their response time, remove failures, and available service constantly.

App’s Backend Part

the most successful taxi booking app Uber’s backend is written in those technologies, which are:

Node JS, Python, Go, Redis, MongoDB, MySQL.

It also uses its own data center network and also depends on third-party providers like Amazon Web Services for some work.

Without a huge computer infrastructure, Uber cannot maintain this type of Riding service. During the primary stage, there are many options available to support your project and the entire backend process. Using Amazon web services, Azure from Microsoft, and Google app engine you can maintain your backend.

Ride services that are on demand deliberately depend on some frameworks and APIs for navigation, payments, and connecting to the user:

1.    For showing neighboring areas, use Google Maps.

2.    To navigate the user’s location use Core Location from Google.

3.    Google’s Map kit for configuring the router.

4.    Making payments uses Braintree.

5.    For SMS notifications Twilio is applicable.

6.    Apple Push notifications for push notifications.

7.    For sending payment receipt uses SendGrid.

App’s Frontend Part

Taxi booking apps like Uber have two sides. The first one is for the request (users/passengers) and the second one is for service (drivers), each one has its own functions.

In the Uber app, there is also an admin panel which has to maintain the backend and monitor all over the system and perform managerial works.

For developing the client-side app you have two options:

1.    This one is a native app that is using platform-specific programming languages like Java for android and Swift/C++ for iOS.

2.    And this one is a cross-platform app that is using CSS, HTML, and JAVASCRIPT. This type of app is also called a hybrid app.

For making a taxi booking app, using the native app approach is more appreciated and considerable than the hybrid app.

Most needed features for both Driver and Passenger apps:

1.   Registration and Authentication

Most taxi booking apps are recommended signup and login in with social media and email id/password. Making a profile helps to maintain and grow a good connection with users. Creating a profile is also needed for the payment option. Registering the driver profile helps the driver to get certified and verified by the service manager.

2.   Edit option for profile

There should be an option for easily editing passengers’ and drivers’ profiles like names, mobile numbers, email, photos, etc. In the profile of the driver, there is included the driver’s license and information about the vehicle like manufacture and production year, class of the car, vehicle color, and license plate number) and the photo of the vehicle. To see each other’s profiles, there must be an option available. This profile helps to acknowledge each other at the arrival point.

3.   Matching

This option is automated, this connects the passenger to the nearest available driver. This option is built upon several attributes like the passengers and the driver’s location (now Uber gives only 8 options), the status of the driver, rating, etc. Before the request goes to the next driver each driver had a few seconds in hand. The Uber company gives only 15 seconds.

You can also add this option that a driver set a destination filter and only matches those passengers who intended to go in the same way.

4.   Navigation

Create a good taxi app then there must be a tracking system available. Like Uber, it uses a GPS tracking system. It allows to navigate the users and the driver’s location, make a path for linking them, track the moving car, and even allows to compute the cost and the ETA (estimated time of arrival). All that data is sent to the main server and processed and broadcast to other users.

5.   Notifications

Nowadays most taxi booking apps use three options to inform users about crucial events, these are SMS, push notifications, and email. If you want to push notifications then use free utilities like Apple Push Notifications for iOS and for android Firebase Cloud Messaging or other third-party platforms.

Implementing the SMS notifications Uber uses Twilio but if you don’t want to use it then there are also available some options like Pilvo or Sinch.

Sending transactional email Uber uses SendGrid.

6.   The cost of a ride

In the Uber-type taxi app driver and the passenger, both are known the approximate fare in advance. This approximate fare is calculated on the server side. The cost could be estimated on some factors like the starting and endpoint distance, fuel cost, discount if applicable, traffic, car model, etc.

The Uber company uses “Surge pricing” which is nowadays a very disputed feature and many people complain about it so don’t use it in your app that may harm your app strategy.

7.   Making Payments

Uber securely accepts payment with the help of Braintree. Payments are all cashless, because of that when the ride is over then automatically payment is withdrawn by the payment gateway. In the market, there are many online payment providers available like Stripe, Worldpay, etc. Providing robust APIs they easily joined with the mobile app, so they can boost the web, mobile, and in-app purchases. They support all types of cards and digital wallets.

8.   Rating and Feedback

Both the passengers and driver are able to rate each other. If a driver has a low rating, those drivers cannot use the service again. And the passenger with the low rating does not get the ride frequently. Rating only is given after the ride is over. And about the feedback, all feedback is shown in the profile that helps the next passenger to make an idea of their services.

9.   Booking Cancellation

If any driver or passenger cancels their ride then a fee is charged.

CONCLUSION:

You have to accept that Uber-like companies already hold the market. But there is an option where newcomers can join this trend. By implementing your unique idea of yours you can make a place between them.

The main thing you need is an excellent idea and perfect implementation to create a good taxi app. More innovative your app, you should be able to attract more users. So we hope that our article helps you the most and gives you the idea about creating a good taxi app like Uber.