Uber is an on-demand ride-sharing app that revolutionized the business industry. Ever since the launch of Uber, other industries are trying to utilize the on-demand business model to disrupt their traditional business.
Startups and entrepreneurs are seeing it as a colossal opportunity to build an app like Uber to simplify all the processes and create a user-friendly environment.
This blog explains how to build an App like Uber in 7 steps:
I: Do thorough market research on on-demand services
II: Gather requirements to build an App like Uber
III: Get a Clear Estimation to Build an App like Uber
IV: Plan the milestones and develop the product
VI: Getting ready to launch
VII: Collect feedback to built a bigger App
The workflow of the Uber App
The two main participants in the Uber business are the Rider and Driver.
The workflow of Rider app
- Riders sign into the app and fill their contact details.
- To book a ride, the rider gives the pick-up and drop location.
- The app searches for nearby Drivers at a particular radius around them.
- A ride gets booked showing the current location of the driver.
- Get picked up by the driver and dropped at the mentioned destination.
- Pays the driver for the ride.
Workflow of the Driver app
- The driver registers into the platform using their mobile number.
- Switches to online mode to find a ride.
- A rider gets allotted near to the driver’s location mentioning their current location.
- Drivers pick the rider up from their given location and drop at the chosen location.
- Rider pays for the ride.
- Payment gets received to the driver.
This is a simple scenario of the working of an Uber business model. But a lot happens behind the scenes.
I: Do thorough market research on on-demand services
Market research unveils information to start your on-demand services such as:
Customers’ data on their behavior and preference of their service.
- Insights on the growth of the transportation industry in your state or country.
- How competitors position their business and do marketing campaigns.
- Resources available in the market for a new company
- Analyze when, how, who, and what kind of services your target consumer prefers.
II: Gather requirements to build an App like Uber
After observing and understanding the market and the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, you start building the MVP of your app.
- Why MVP?
MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, a product built with minimum requirements to solve a problem faced in the industry and to find the audience for the startup idea you have formed.
The feedback collected from the customers of your product would help to validate your service in the market and understand how to position yourself from your competitors.
So, to design an MVP, figure out the basic features required to design your on-demand app. An app like Uber involves 3 people.
- Rider — End users
- Driver — Providers
- Owner of the website
Rider and Driver come with separate apps. Here is the essential feature needed in the Rider’s and Driver’s app.
Rider app
Smooth Registration process — Design a one-step registration process reducing the waiting time.
Multiple vehicle options — Users can choose any vehicle to travel safely and comfortably.
Fare-estimate — A ballpark estimate of a ride from the pickup and drop location.
Booking and canceling the ride — Book and cancel the ride at user’s convenience.
Payment options — Pay the ride using cash, wallet and Stripe payment
In-call option — User’s can call the driver, letting know their current location and any help for direction.
Fare breakdown based on km, duration — Get the receipt with the detailed break down of fare information.
Multiple currency options — User’s can choose their preferred currency.
Ratings — Rate the ride based on your travelling experience and the good behavior of the driver.
Push notifications — Get new updates faster of any information through notifications.
Driver app
Easy registration process — Easy and fast sign up process using the mobile number.
Confirm or decline Booking — Driver can decline or confirm the ride.
Privacy mode of earned details — Drivers can hide their total earnings for their security.
Driver’s availability — Driver can switch back to offline if they aren’t willing to drive.
In-call option — Driver can call the rider to know their exact location.
Payout method — Stripe payment is present to receive their income.
Currency and language — Integration of multi-currency and five languages.
Trips — Contains all the records of current and past trips in a separate section
Push notifications — Know new updates of the bookings, offers and other details through notifications.
Technology
Now, as you know the basic features, choose your tech stack wisely to develop your on-demand Uber app.
Save your time, resource, and cost of development by using cross-application development. Flutter would be the perfect tool for building a ground-up on-demand Uber-like application.
Flutter is an open-source SDK for cross-platform development created by Google. You can build iOS, Android, and Web applications in a single codebase.
Flutter helps to develop applications faster with the various widgets, it helps to build unique UI designs.
III: Get a Clear Estimation to Build an App like Uber
To build an app like Uber, it costs between $1500 — $4500 in the market. The cost gets determined by the number of people going to work on the project and the features developed.
This would be the price range offered when buying the product along with the source code. Price increases with customization.
If more than interested and a passion to build your startup, we are just one step away to build your dream.
IV: Plan the milestones and develop the product
Follow Agile Methodology to build your app like Uber. Agile methodology is an iterative process of software development and testing. In each iteration of development, new features added and the quality of the product tested.
Each milestone is pre-planned and the product gets developed according to the flow.
Take the construction development, for example. At first, the floor gets constructed followed by the walls and then the roof. Same way in creating the driver’s app, it starts with the registration process, followed by the booking flow, then the category pricing.
Likewise, in the rider’s app, it starts with registration, search options, booking flow, estimated payment calculation, and the payment process.
Planning the milestone will allow developers to see the big picture of the product and make sure all the features developed don’t disturb other processes done parallelly.
V: Hard-core Testing
The final product manually tested by the Quality Control team. The testing team makes sure to deliver high app performance, stable functioning, and adaptable user interface designs.
The testing techniques performed on the product are:
Smoke testing
This technique tests the working of important component features in the app.
Functionality testing
The functionality of each feature tested by passing inputs and examining the outputs.
User-Interface testing
This UI testing finds the possible errors in the design layout i.e, images, icons, navigation links, buttons, etc.
Performance testing
This tests the app’s speed and performance when put under heavy load.
Usability Testing
This technique is critical as this tests the usability of the app. Design an app where users can learn themselves to perform basic tasks.
As we follow the Agile Development process, we test the app after each milestone and do rigorous testing to eliminate all bugs.
VI: Getting ready to launch
After building the whole idea of your startup and successfully testing the product, it’s time to finally launch the app!
You can post the app in Google PlayStore or Apple AppStore. We help in submitting your Uber clone app in the concerned App Store and answer all your technical queries.
Start planning marketing campaigns to create awareness of your on-demand service, so people would start talking about it. Create separate marketing plans for each medium — social media, print, and TV.
VII: Collect feedback to built a bigger App
It is not over.
After the launch, proceed to build the next version of your on-demand Uber-clone app by adding more features. Solve the problems faced by the end-users in real-time while using the product.
Top comments (1)
Great article, Brian! Your detailed steps provide an excellent roadmap for anyone looking to create an app like Uber. The breakdown of necessary features and technologies is particularly helpful for aspiring developers.