Uber Announces New Tools for Tricky Pickups

Uber announced some new tools for tricky pickups today.

We want every ride to get off to a great start. But when you have people, and cities, and moving traffic, something simple as a the pickup can be a big feat. As part of our continued effort to make the pickup experience simple and stress free, we’ve built new features we hope will help both riders and drivers.

● Spotlight: When you’re in crowded areas or it’s nighttime, it can be hard for you and your driver to find one another. With Spotlight, you can light up your phone with a special color specific to your driver. Your driver will receive a message telling them what color to look for, so you can just hold your phone in the air.




● On-time scheduled pickups, guaranteed: When you have an early flight to catch or an important meeting to get to, scheduling your ride in advance is a great way to make sure you leave on time. Our on-time guarantee means your scheduled ride will arrive during the time period you select, or we’ll give you Uber credit towards your next ride.



● Pickup Messages: Sometimes you want to give your driver a little extra detail ahead of the pickup. To help you communicate with your driver without taking their attention off of the road, we’ve made sending a message simple. Now it’s even easier to share a tip (“I’m wearing a red jacket”), or send your driver a quick pre-populated update like “be right there” with a single tap. We designed Pickup Messages to encourage safe driving: your messages are read aloud, and drivers can simply tap to respond.




These improvements join existing features that let you edit your pickup location, share your live location so your driver can see where you’re located in relation to your pickup spot, and help you spot your driver using a Beacon when it’s dark.

You can download Uber from the App Store for free.

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