US-based personal transport firm, Uber, on Thursday released a major update to its rider application.
The new update completely revamps the Uber UI, for the first time since 2012 and brings Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based algorithm to enrich the Uber ride experience.
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"Since our last redesign in 2012, our app has become complicated and harder to navigate. To recapture the clean and simple aesthetic of the original Uber experience—without sacrificing the choice our riders now expect—we rebuilt a faster, smarter rider app completely from the ground up," Yuhki Yamashita, Uber product manager, said on the official blog.
Here are 5 major changes in new Uber update:
1) Simpler UI:
With the new update, slide option of choosing uberPOOL, uberGO, uberX, uberXL and other ride options will be clubbed in to just two classes- Economy (UberX) and Premium (Select/Black) with estimated travel time and cost details upfront, so that users will be able to quickly decide the mode of transport.
2) Shortcuts-
Users can pre-set location of the home, work, gym and other frequently traveled places.
With the new AI-based update, Uber will automatically learn user's daily routes and suggest shortest possible ways to reach the destination.
Another notable inclusion is the option to connect your friends instead of place. For instance, if the user is planning to go to his/her friend's house, they can just type in the name and with permission to access contact list, Uber will intuitively message your friend to share the geo-location and directly show the shortest route from current location to the friends place with travel time and fare details.
3) Ride Pick-Up point details get streamlined:
Based on user feedback, Uber, has learnt that people who visit new places for the first time, will not be able to guide driver to their precise location.
Now, after upgrading to the new firmware, user will no longer have to worry about setting the pickup location, they just need to type the destination in the where-to option.
Uber, with the help of machine learning technology, will display the precise location of the street or corners near to a particular landmark, so that driver will be able to spot you or vice versa.
4) Sync with Calendar:
With the new Uber update, users will be able to connect their calendar with ride app. Once they connect, their meetings and appointments will automatically appear as "shortcuts," saving the hassle of digging through another app to find the right address.
5) In-house service:
Once the user hops in to the Uber cab and is heading towards bus/train terminal, he/she can avail transit information right on the Uber app.
If travelling back to home, user can simultaneously also order food (only in select regions) from highly rated restaurants (based on Yelp.com) and also partner hotels via UberEATS options, so that the food arrive at the same time you reach home.
Starting today, the new Uber rider app update is rolling out globally on iOS and Android over the next several weeks.
Watch the demo video of newly updated Uber app:
