How intriguing it is to have a taxi at your beck and call, or just at the tap of a button? Well, apps like Uber, Ola, and Lyft, have all made life simpler for people who believe in taking a personal cab or a private vehicle instead of haggling their way into public transportation. Pick out the cab type you want, select the pickup and drop-off location, choose if you want to pay the price reflected in the application and zoom your way out of the door. It is that simple! Or is it?
Nonetheless, one should be aware that building apps on any operating system is equally difficult and challenging on different platforms, as it requires you to integrate multiple features and functionalities. It is highly likely that several taxi apps might be offering those services and facilities already, and therefore you are no different.
The question at the end of the day is if the customer would pick you over the others who have already established themselves as market leaders. They have a sustainable customer base, they have good service, they have an established pool of drivers and they have more availability. If you are not able to match up to it from the get-go, it is possible that your model is not sustainable.
What Does an On-Demand Solution Consists of?
How much does it take to build an app like Uber or any taxi provider app for a matter of fact?
For every business that is focused on developing a taxi-based application, the first thing that crosses their minds is the cost factor for obvious reasons. You will need to make an investment into the app. It makes sense to factor it in before you start off with the project. Pricing is an undeniable aspect of business and cannot be ignored. However, do all applications that offer taxi services, cost the same? If you answered yes to that, think again!
The pricing depends completely on the kind of application you are developing. When it is an on-demand taxi app, the overall fixed cost varies across developing agencies. There are several factors which dominate the pricing variance, and as an owner or senior manager, you will need to make a final call on how it should be treated or developed. Even if it is a UK iPhone app development company or any e-wallet mobile app development company in the UK, they will recommend that you have a plan in mind. But what are the major factors which dominate the variance in price?
As mentioned, it is a lot of different factors. The factors are mainly the following:
1. The target platform where you intend to build the business.
2. The people involved in the process. You could pick out freelancers or experienced developers who have been seasoned players when it comes to creating great applications.
3. The design and the UI/UX of the application that you desire.
4. The features that are actually required against the ones you want.
Depending on whom you are hiring to develop the application for you, the overheads do change drastically. How many people are working on the project, how long is the project expected to last and what modules are integral to the development of the application. If you have 20 people working on the GPS integration, and another 50 on the user interface portal, it makes no sense. It adds to your expenses and increases the cost unnecessarily. Choose an application development company or even freelancers, who can give you a better result in a stipulated time. It does come with some risk as the rush could potentially reduce quality, but if you are working on a shoestring budget, it is always recommended that you do it anyway.
The same goes for picking out platforms too. Does it have to be Android? Does it have to be iOS?This is often a question from application developers. Depending on your revenue model and your target customers, you can pick out either. If reaching out to customers is your primary goal, pick out Android because it has a larger user base. If raking in big moolah is the target, iOS is a great platform to start off with.
Passenger App
User Profile
A dedicated section for users to edit or add personal details.
Mobile Number Verification
OTP authentication for verifying the registered mobile number.
Instant Ride
Booking cab for the instant ride just with few taps.
Scheduling Ride
Booking or scheduling ride for future date and time.
Real-Time ETA
Live to track of cab or driver with a real-time ETA for a better experience.
Fare Estimation
Total fare estimation based upon provided pickup and drop location.
Various Payment Methods
Multiple secured in-app payment options for better user experience.
Notification Alerts
Updating users time-to-time with the latest updates and discounts through push notification, SMS & email.
Emergency Button
In-app feature for passengers to alert the company in case of an emergency situation.
Promotion & Referral
Users can earn promotions or discounts by referral of app to other people.
Canceling Ride
Hassle-free ride cancellation with applicable policy-based chargers on the ride.
Contact Driver
Passengers can contact the driver to update them about the pickup.
Rating Ride
Post-trip option for the passenger to rate and review their trip experience.
Trip History
Dedicated features for users to view their past trips.
Help & Support
In-app option for users for help, queries, and complaint about user flexibility.
Driver App
Easy Registration
The quick registration process for drivers to provide all necessary details for creating an account.
Real-Time Requests
Updating drivers with a new trip request with complete details about the ride.
Accept/Reject
The driver can easily accept or reject the trip requesting according to their comfort.
Contact Passenger
Drivers can easily contact passengers for further updates about the trip.
Navigation
In-app navigation with google map for better route and ETA.
Track Earnings
Drivers can easily keep a record of total journey history with daily earnings.
Availability Button
Drivers can easily mark them offline or online to the company.
Driver Dashboard
Drivers can check insight about their trips, performance, and feedback.
Rating Customer
Drivers can also rate the customer and flag their behavior.
Admin and Dispatcher Panel
Secure Login
Admin can easily log in from any modern browser with the authenticated process.
Admin Dashboard
Admin can easily view stats about performance and operation of driver & passenger.
Manage Drivers
Managing or reviewing new driver request and setting commission rates for them.
Truck Driver
Tracking the current location of drivers with their real-time fleet availability.
Manage Customers
Managing and viewing details of all the registered users.
Manage Vehicles
Admin can manage all registered vehicles and add new vehicles also.
Manage Dispatchers
Adding or managing dispatchers to handle passenger booking requests.
Manage tariffs
Setting up base fare according to distance and also waiting and cancellation charges.
Manage Refunds
Easy refund of money to passengers and maintain their loyalty & trust.
SMS Alert Setting
Enable/disable notification alert for specific trips for drivers and passengers.
Country/Currency Setting
Setting up the country and its currency from the admin panel.
Additional/Optional Features
Number Masking
Keeping passenger’s contact numbers hidden from the driver for their privacy.
Split Fare
Passengers can easily share the ride fare with friends and family for shared trips.
Ride Passes
Issuing ride pass to passengers for discount rates and offers on rides.
In-App Chat
Passengers and drivers can chat with each other with this built-in function.
VoIP call
Allowing passengers and drivers to place a call through data or internet.
Pickup Suggestion
Providing better pickup suggestions and faster pickup points to passengers near them.
Flat Pricing
Setting up a flat or fixed price for popular routes like airport and station pickup & drop.
Web App
Allowing passengers to book a cab through mobile web installing the app.
Sharing Ride Status
Passenger can share their live ride status with the family or friends.
Multiple Language Support
Providing multiple language features for the flexibility of passengers.
Passenger Insurance
Providing full hospital insurance to a passenger in case of accidents.
Advanced Taxi App Features to Keep You Ahead of Competition
As technology is emerging day by day, competition amongst the taxi app is also increasing. Every day, new updates are enrolled which increases the flexibility & usability of the app.
Nowadays, anybody can create a taxi application. But it is not easy to stay ahead of the competitors present in the market. Flexibility, easily understandable, user-friendly are some basic features that we must keep in mind while developing an app.
But if want your taxi app to be at the top, there are some features that you must keep in mind if you want to be one step ahead always.
These features will help your application to rank high among all other applications.
Social Login & Sign-Up
Since the world has become fond of social media, approximately 70% of people are active on social media. So providing the feature of social media login is the best way to keep your app flexible for its users.
Push Notifications
Opening the app again & again to know the status of your cab is not a good idea. Push notification is the best feature to avoid this situation. This feature helps the users to know the status of their cab without opening the app. ETA is updated to users continuously through a push notification.
Number Masking
No one wants to share their personal number with an unknown, especially girls. Number masking helps the user as well as the driver to hide their contact number. The call is not made directly, instead connected through the company as intermediate, hiding the number of the driver as well as the rider.
Easy Payment System
Payment by cash should not be the only method, there should be other methods available also. Nowadays people usually rely on online payment. There must be options for online payments, like PayTM, Google Pay, etc. So the rider can pay the exact fare to the driver.
Floating Window
The concept of split-screen in smartphones allows the users to access two apps a single time. Since the area to use apps in split-screen is fixed, it sometimes creates problems for users. The feature of the floating window helps the user to access the apps in a small floating window which the user can move anywhere on the screen according to their needs.
Custom Taxi App Development Solution For All
- Global Startups
- Launch Your Own Branded Taxi Booking App like Uber
We provide a sharp and smart on-demand technology to build a taxi/cab booking startup and aggregator platform.
- Taxi and Agile Business
- Connect Your Startup To Online Users and Grow Your Business
Track your riders in real-time, manage operations and provide flexible and seamless ride booking experience to customers.
- Enterprises and Governments
- Shorten Employee Rides and Travel Management
We provide a pre-built white label taxi app solution to deploy for MNC’s and governments to fulfill employee and citizen transportation needs.
Implementation & Launch
A personalized on-demand app for every taxi business from the requirement, deployment to the taxi app launch.
- Requirement Analysis
Personalized interactions for complete requirement gathering and analysis.
- Payments Integration
In-app support for multiple payment methods and gateways with new integration support.
- Notifications Integration
SMS alerts, push notification and email updates setup.
- Analytics Integration
Support for managing useful details, insights and stats of business by popular analytic platforms.
- Server Setup & Backup
On-demand deployment of taxi app solution for full data control.
- Security Compliance Check
Full app and data security to fulfill the condition of HIPAA and other standards.
- App Store Submission
Successful registration of taxi-app on Google Play Store and iOS App Store.
- Support and Maintenance
Dedicated panel for 24×7 technical support for smooth operations.
Tech of an On-demand Taxi App
Database
Single Technology
Since it is a JavaScript framework, it includes comprehensive features that a developer can expect from a scripting language across the app development stack. The great thing is that it can be used for both front end and back end development, therefore reducing the potential issues that could arise and enhancing the performance of the app.
Interface, design, user accessibility, features, infrastructure are all open for customization. It is completely your call as the product owner to decide what you want and what should be excluded. As long as you have the features in place that make users cheer for your application, you are good to go. Closing thoughts
You could include Real-time ETA, mobile and email verification features, share rides features, so on and so forth. Pricing varies depending on the features you are integrating and building. It can take roughly £5000 to £500,000, depending on the complexity, features, and protocol that is being used. Depending on the depth of the app, it could take about 20 weeks of development, charged on a weekly or monthly basis as per what is agreed. If you are thinking about starting a business similar to Uber, get in touch!
Jermaine Trotman is the co-founder of Nimble AppGenie, a company renowned for its outstanding mobile app development and web development as well as specialized in e-wallet app development and betting app development.
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