The amazing success of UBER is the highlight of the mobile application scenario at present. Booking taxis using the taxi booking app has become a globally accepted practice and consequently developing taxi booking apps is today the primary goal of most of the app developers. By introducing the UBER app to the world about eight years ago, the founders of the company had shown the app developers the way to a new field that offers tremendous opportunities. It is quite natural that young app developers with a lot of caliber and enthusiasm are now concentrating their attention in developing an app which will be a match to the UBER app. The app developing companies which are capable of finding out cost-effective solutions for developing new taxi booking apps are assured of huge demand in this potential market.
The popular taxi booking apps like Uber and Ola have succeeded in making the task of booking cabs easier, faster and very convenient. The user of this kind of an app can book the cab from the spot where he or she is at the moment and the cab will be on that spot just within minutes. Ola and some other companies have advanced further and now provide offline booking facilities thereby enabling those who cannot access internet through their phone also to avail the taxi service. It is strongly recommended that those who want to develop taxi booking apps may go for the native app instead of Hybrid app. Native apps ensure better performance as well as scalability.
The fundamentals of Developing a Taxi Booking App
Before developing the taxi booking app one must be aware of the fact that a taxi booking app consists of two different apps – the one meant for the cab driver and the other one for the person who wants to book a cab. These two apps are connected to the admin portal. The app which is meant for the passenger is known as the Passenger App and the other one is known as Driver App.
The Passenger App
Those who desire to use the Taxi Booking App have to get registered either through their email Id or through Facebook or other social media platforms after downloading and installing the app on their mobile phones. Those who will be making online payments have to enter their bank account details or credit/debit card details.
- The passenger has to mention the pick-up point as well as destination on the booking page of the passenger app. The booking page is an important part of the user interface of the passenger app.
- The fare estimating feature of the passenger app provides the passenger an estimate of the journey fare prior to booking the cab.
- The passenger can choose the type of car based on the price per kilometer. The car selection option is another feature of the passenger app.
- The Cab Tracking feature of the Passenger App enables the passenger to find out the location of the driver at the time of booking and the time required by the driver to reach the pick-up spot.
- Passengers can also go through the review and ratings of the driver before booking his cab.
- Once the driver reaches the place he will get in touch with the passenger to get the exact place to pick-up as well as drop.
- Once the destination is reached, the driver will either show the passenger the amount on the screen of his app or provide him the payment slip to effect the payment. The passenger will also receive the invoice by email.
- Passengers who require booking the cab again to travel from the same pick-up point to the same destination and vice-versa can make use of the booking history feature also.
The Driver’s App
The most important feature of the Driver’s App is the updated profile of the cab driver. All updated particulars of the driver including his status, license number and time of availability will be provided in the driver’s profile.
- Once the cab is booked by a passenger from a nearby location, the driver receives the alert and he takes the car to that spot immediately through the shortest route.
- The Google Map provided in the Driver’s App enables the cab driver to reach the destination through the shortest route.
- The Driver’s App provides the driver the fair estimation of the trip with discount coupons, if applicable.
- Another feature of the driver’s app is the quick report that shows the driver his earnings and stats during the trip.
- While developing the app, a special feature may be incorporated that allows the passengers to opt for a particular driver.
- The cab sharing option allows the passengers on the same route to travel by the same cab and share the taxi fare. This is known as Share-a-cab facility.
Admin Panel Implementation
The Admin Panel is in fact the power behind the taxi booking app. The admin panel ensures smooth and hassle-free operation of the taxi service. All types of information including ratings and reviews of the app are managed by the admin panel only. The cab service operator provides all instructions to the driver including navigation routes through the admin panel. Revenue collection is also managed through the admin panel. Admin Panel helps the cab operator to innovate and improve the app further by providing customer feedbacks and reviews. Admin Panel guides the operator to expand his taxi network to other places. Developing the admin panel is the first and foremost task of the app developer who wants to develop the taxi booking app.
The Steps to use the Taxi Booking App
The passengers who want to use the taxi booking app have to follow the procedure given below:
- Download the app and install the same in the mobile phone.
- Click the app and log in by filling the email id and other particulars.
- Enter the pick-up point as well as destination.
- Choose the type of the car
- Receive details of the nearest driver who is available at that time and time he requires to reach the pick-up spot.
- Once the car arrives, board the car and enjoy the journey.
- On reaching the destination make the payment as per the automatically generated fare.
- Rate the app based on the quality of the service.
Geo Location Facility – the most vital part of the taxi booking app
The developer of the tax booking app must have clear knowledge of the GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. The GPS technology is different for iOS operating system and Android operating system. Apart from incorporating the Google mapping software in the app, the app developer should make it capable of identifying the location of the mobile device through which the cab is booked. Also, the app should provide the cab driver details regarding the shortest route to reach the spot.
Core Location Framework is ideal for those who use iOS phones and for phones based on Android OS, the Google Location APIs are used. The MapKit from Apple iOS provides specific directions to the driver while driving and for Android phones the driver can make use of the Google Maps Android API. The taxi booking app developer may install either of these two apps after registration and the specific directions to the driver will be made visible by the mapping software. Now, Bluetooth and iBeacon technology have made mapping for the iOS systems easier. Hence the developers of taxi booking apps no more need to rely exclusively on the Google Maps. They can try the newly developed technologies by other companies also.
User Profile Page of the Taxi Booking App
The user profile page is one of the prominent features of a taxi booking app. Both Passenger App and Driver’s App have user profile page. The first time user of this page has to fill in his email id, mobile phone number and other details. In the case of drivers, they are verified using these details. UBER and other companies create clients’ databases using the log in pages. ‘No Profile’ booking may be allowed initially and also request may be made to customer to create his profile. Customers can also make bookings through social media websites. The customers must be ensured that information provided by them will not be shared.
Payment options
The developers of taxi booking apps should keep in mind that the popular companies like UBER and Ola have cashless payment system. The passengers may make payments using their credit/debit cards or through online payment companies like PayPal. Special discount offers can be provided using promo codes. Dynamic pricing option can be used when there is heavy booking and demand for cabs is very high. As far as payment integration of the taxi booking app is concerned, the app developer has to take into account the basic charge, cost per kilometer, cost per hour or minute and also the safety charges. The taxi booking app developer must ensure that all the confidential data regarding payment including debit/credit card particulars stored in the system remain 100% secured.
For making the payment, the users of iOS phones can make use of Apple Pay and Android phone users can make payment through Google Wallet. Taxi Booking App developers need not hesitate to incorporate the dynamic pricing feature in their apps since only very few passengers hesitate to pay extra for availing the cab service. For payment integration alone the app developer may have to spend not less than 140 hours and may incur a cost in the range $3500 – $4000.
Sending messages/notifications
The company or the cab driver has to send message to the customer who has booked the cab about pick-up point and destination or a notification that the ride is cancelled for some reason. The message is to be sent either by SMS or as push notification. The users of iOS phone can opt for the Apple Push Notification Service and for those who use Android phones; Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is the preferred option.
Make your app unique
Developers of taxi booking app must be aware of the fact that the market is flooded with hundreds of apps and hence the developer should ensure that the app he develops should make its presence felt. It must appear as a highly sophisticated app with an amazing User Interface and highly exciting User Experience. The user must be highly impressed with the app when he uses it for the first time itself. The developer should provide a user-friendly Interface by making it simple, easy, intuitive and clear.
What will be the final price of a Taxi Booking App?
Since the price of taxi booking app depends on various aspects, the pricing of the app is a highly complicated task. Moreover, those who want to launch a new taxi booking app need to develop two separate apps – the passenger app and the driver’s app. The factors that influence the pricing of the app include the selection of the platform for both iOS and Android phone users, development costs of the web, costs incurred for developing the User Interface and User Experience, entire management of the app development project, the costs incurred for providing the security features and cost of maintenance as well as backend development.
Preparing the budget estimate for developing the taxi booking app is the most crucial part of the project. The costs may also vary depending on the app development company which is entrusted with the task. It is estimated that the development cost of a basic taxi booking app will be in the range $15000 – $21000.
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