These days, more and more people choose to share a ride through an app instead of a cab for commuting. You need to get fast to an event or simply want to go out at night and such apps help you organize your every day better. Why is that?
Because a ride-hailing comes with multiple benefits. The very essence of ride-hailing per se is that you, as a customer, can hire a driver to get you precisely where you need to arrive. You would normally accomplish this by hailing a taxi on the street – hence, the use of the name ride-hailing. Both the commuters and the drivers are able to access these services fast, thus managing to save time. Considering that we live in an era in which time is of the essence, this is utterly attractive for most people living in big cities and not only.
To ensure the efficacy of the process, you will need the help of a ride-hailing app. Traveling in comfort and security has never been easier to achieve. But how do you create a ride-hailing app similar to those that are already mainstream? And is it a good idea to do it from scratch?
The answer to these questions can be found in this article. All you have to do is read our guide and make sure your customers will enjoy every trip!
Creating a ride-hailing app: Basic Features
If you want to know how to create a taxi app, with this guide things are simple and smart. You might not be hand in hand with technology and apps might not be your thing. Don’t worry! From other big companies’ experience, we can tell that you should not think about doing it from scratch. All you need to take into account are specific basic features that will make your services wanted sooner than you’ve previously expected.
You want your passengers to enjoy the benefits of an app that is simple, efficient and smart. What you need to take into account are the following features:
- Register/login: you need to give your customers the chance to access the services by email and/or social media login option, accounts, credit cards, payment processing;
- Booking interface: provide the customers with a screen to enter the address to call a taxi to, select a cab type (or specific driver), set a location for pickup;
- Tracking: allow your customers to track the driver’s location, to make updates during or after a ride, etc.;
- Price calculator: this one comes in handy when the customers need to check the estimated cost of a ride from point A to point B with certain cab type even before ordering;
- Payments: an efficient payment system is compulsory: cashless and in-app, paid automatically via credit card, users receive an invoice to phone and email, or just plain cash;
- Push notifications: it is advisable to keep users updated on order status, estimated time of taxi arrival, and other details like car model, license plate, etc.;
- Messaging, ratings & reviews, booking history.
This is only a part of what the app must contain. Not only does it need to be efficient and useful for passengers. Drivers need to access it quickly as well. With a handy template and the help of app developers, these can be achieved quickly.
Creating a ride-hailing app: cost components
Possibilities are endless, but you need to choose the best option for your customers. There are three giant foundations to develop a taxi app and those are the server, mapping, and payments. In order to process hundreds of user requests, driver routes, and other data, you need to have your own server. You can also take into account in-app payments and affiliate some gateways adapters to develop an app. And for the mapping part, always go with the GPS.
Apart from these, you might choose the design and other features which will make your app attractive and smart. On the whole, the cost components you need to consider are:
- Backend development
- Web development
- Native app development (Android/iOS)
- Design
- Management and quality assurance
Creating a ride-hailing app might seem a difficult task at first, especially when you think about creating it from scratch. However you don’t have to create it from scratch, and you don’t have to do everything yourself. Actually, it is much easier and cheaper to create a branded taxi app while using the solutions given by a company like Onde. We can help you with the system setups that you need to launch the app, guidance on how to find a proper name, how to gain popularity and more.
That being said, if you decide to access the lessons our team is giving, it’s going to be cheaper and easier to please your clients. After all, that’s the main goal of a taxi hailing app.
