The Evolution of Uber: How Uber App Was Made?

Whenever we talk about Uber, we straightforwardly think about a cab. But do you know, in the past ten years, Uber App made life easy, especially for city riders? Uber operates over 58 countries and is valued at approximately $66B- the company has expanded and established in over 581+ cities in over 82+ countries with the US, China, India, Germany, and many other countries. India and the US have the most active users who are using the services via Uber App.

In 2016, Uber completed 1.8 billion rides trips on its app. The first Uber services began in 2009, and to achieve the first billion rides, it took six long years. And to reach close to second billion rides, it only took six months. That’s outstanding, isn’t it? Uber has become a global leader in providing cab facilities all across the globe. 

Everyone who books a ride downloads the Uber App from Play or App Store; now, this is when an Application plays an important role. We are sure most people would have used Uber App, but do you know how the app is made? Which technology is used in the app? And many other questions related to the Uber app.

The Uber idea is built on a simple concept, seductive in its premise- the ability to book a car with a smartphone. The app had eliminated the problem of hailing a cab and gave everyone an equal opportunity to book, ride and work.

Welcome to Cmile; today, we will talk about the Uber App development process. You must have observed that many other companies have also stepped in providing the cab booking facility but have not got success like Uber App. Now the question is, what makes Uber App so unique? To know, kindly read till the end and stay with us.

Let’s Begin:

Easy Beginnings

It started in 2008 with the founders of Uber discussing tech’s future at a conference. In 2010, Uber launched in San Francisco, USA. In just six months, they had 6,500+ users during the initial days and provided approximately 20,000+ rides. Do you know what the key to their success was? Uber’s founders mainly focused on attracting both drivers and riders simultaneously with some cashback or discounts to users and providing 25% to drivers from the total amount. 

San Francisco is the hotspot of the tech community in the US and was thus the perfect platform for this form of technological innovation to thrive.

During the initial days, Uber spread their app through positive word of mouth (mouth publicity), advertising and sponsoring tech events, and free rides to the Uber app participants. Still, you might have observed that you get a code or a direct 50 percent off on your first ride. This strategy cracked the market because users were now used to book rides on the Uber app. 

As more and more people take to social media to tell the world about this innovative new app, they are also telling to give it a try- the sheer brilliance of their marketing strategy paid off.

Product Technology Cohesion: How Uber Works

What makes Uber, Uber? For one, it’s the universal appeal or how they streamlined their product, software, and technology. It was a fresh new innovative start that has never been seen before. So if one were to replicate the model, they need to look at Uber’s extra-ordinary branding strategy.

To use the Uber app, first, you have to download the app, which launched first on App Store, then extended to Play Store.

Uber’s co-founders, Garret Camp and Travis Kalanick relied heavily on six crucial key technologies based on iOS and Android geolocation; what really sold it was its clear core value – the ability to map and track all available cabs in your present location. All other interactions are based on this core value – and it’s what sets Uber apart from the crowd. To build an app like Uber is not that easy, but if you hire a reputed mobile development company, things get easy. 

To build a Uber like app, you’ll need to have:

1. Registering/Log-in features: The app allows you to register with your first and last name, along with the mobile number and preferred language. Once you fill in all the details, you will be logged in (US and European countries). In contrast, in countries like India, after you’ve successfully signed up, they’ll send you an SMS to verify your number (generally, the OTP comes with a unique four-digit number), which will then allow you to set your payment preferences.
2. Booking features: This allows drivers to accept or deny incoming ride requests and get information on the customer’s current location and destination.
3. The skill to Identify a Device’s location: Uber, via CoreLocation framework (for iOS platforms), achieves the geographic location and orientation of a device to schedule accurate location and delivery. Understanding iOS and Android geolocation features becomes vital for this step because that’s what your app is running on.
4. Accurate Directions: The Uber App provides directions to both the driver and the user on their smartphone. Developers of the Uber app generally use MapKit for iOS and Google Maps Android API for the Android platform to calculate the route and make directions. They further implement Google Maps for iOS and Android, but Uber adapted technology from other mapping companies to fix any logistical issues that might come on the way.
5. Notifications and SMS: You get up to 2 notifications instantly from Uber when you book a ride.

* A notification telling you that your ride has been confirmed

* One when the cab driver is close to your location and will reach in next few minutes (estimated time mentioned)

If you scroll down, you get all the details about the driver along with the car number.

6. Price Calculation: Uber offers a cashless payment system, paying drivers automatically after every ride, processed through the user’s credit card (it might differ from country to country). Uber takes 25% of the driver’s fare, making for easy profit. They partnered with Braintree, a leader in the mobile payment industry, but other good options are Stripe, Paypal, Card, and last but not least, Cash.

What made Uber so successful was its capability to reshape how we think about the latest technology and its operation. Indeed it created the market a better, more efficient place through the innovative on-demand service.

What Technology is Uber App Built on?

The app’s tech side is mainly written in JavaScript, which is also used to calculate supply and predict demand. With the real-time dispatch systems being built on Node.js and Redis. Java, as well as Objective-C, is used for the iPhone and Android apps. Twilio is the reason behind Uber’s text messages (SMS), and push notifications are executed through Apple Push Notifications Service on the iOS platform and Google Cloud Messaging for the Uber Android App.

http://www.twilio.com/customers/stories/huluWhich API does Uber use?

Similarly, the Uber apps use Google Maps API to pull out the location data. The company experimented with other map providers but returned to Google service. Today, Uber API documentation represents a full-featured platform with a completely original user experience.

What programming language is Uber written in?

Generally, Uber’s engineers mainly write in Python, Node. js, Go, and Java. Uber started with two primary languages: Node. js for the Marketplace team, and Python for everyone else.

Who coded Uber?

In 2009, Uber was founded as Ubercab by Garrett Camp, a computer programmer and the co-founder of StumbleUpon, and Travis Kalanick, who sold his Red Swoosh startup for $19 million in 2007.

How much does it cost to build an app like Uber?

Making an app like UBER becomes a dream for developers as well as entrepreneurs nowadays because its advanced features and functionality took a lot of time to build an app like Uber for any organization.

Several industries came across a similar UBER idea, such as on-demand personal trainer, on-demand taxi app, beauty app, on-demand doctor apps, on-demand bus booking, etc. However, finding the right tech partners who build an app similar to Uber is quite tricky and time-consuming. 

The cost of building an app like uber depends upon the functionality, features; if you add on more features, its cost will rise according to that. Its developing cost varies from country to country’s economy. The approx cost for building an app like uber starts from $15,000 to $200,000 depends upon add-on features.

To get a clear picture of the cost, we will break down the cost by category-wise.

We have considered the average hourly salary of the developer as $50. You may tweak it accordingly.

• Approximate cost to build registration & profile features for an app like Uber

• Approximate cost to build communication & notification features for an app like Uber

• Approximate cost to build the ride cost estimation feature for an app like Uber

Conclusion

Uber’s success was due to several factors, including a clear business model and interaction-based features, and not to forget an ‘interactive mobile app.’ If your mobile app design or information is confusing or messy, you immediately lose half of the market. Still, Uber utilizes and spends in the app development process by keeping Android and iOS in mind to cover the maximum region and customers.

The question on everyone’s mind is how you can minimize the risk of failure by ensuring that your idea and product are feasible when you’re developing an App?

An ideal way is to use a Mobile App development partner (such as Cmile) that has worked on many mobile Apps and understands your requirements. The advantage of working with us is that we’ve worked on multiple app development projects, and we have experience in app development, which helps avoid the pitfalls and make the most of your vision.

Another critical part of ensuring that your App development project is swiftly executed is having a clear road map and regular communication during the project. There are various approaches to achieve this, and we, at Cmile, use a positive approach to the App development process.

Get in touch with us now if you want to develop a mobile app and know the accurate cost for your own mobile app idea.

Chirag Palesha

Founder of Cmile. Expert in mobile app📱 & web🌍  development. Passionate about technologies💻. On mission🚀  to digitally solve people’s problems. Love to use emojis✌🏼

cmile.in