Ride-hailing app Uber has a new and lighter app for riders, which it calls Uber Lite.
It works on Android devices and is said to have been designed to “make booking rides quicker and lighter in low connectivity, on basic Android phones, and for people with limited data plans.”
According to the General Manager for Uber West Africa, Lola Kassim, “Many citizens within Ghana, actively use Uber to travel for various reasons. With consumers requesting better, lighter versions of their much-loved apps, Uber Lite was created. The Uber Lite app is a redesigned Uber app, that uses less space and works better in low connectivity, while still delivering on optimacy when requesting a ride.”
Key features of the all-new Uber Lite include:
Light on your phone: Uber Lite is less than 5MB to download (that’s equivalent to just 3 selfies). A smaller app frees up space for actual selfies and other apps. And, with a 300-millisecond response time (literally the blink of the eye), the booking process is fast even in low connectivity.
Guided Pickups: Uber Lite guides users through the request experience by detecting their current location, so minimal typing is required. If it can’t detect your location because of GPS or network issues, it guides you to choose popular landmarks nearby like Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, and the Black Star Gate.
Tap Over Type: Uber Lite makes picking your destination as easy as a tap of a button. Instead of typing where you are, you can choose a nearby point of interest. Additionally, the app stores the city’s top places so that even when you are offline, no network is needed for them to appear. And the more you use Uber Lite, the smarter the app gets. It learns where you go most often, and surfaces those options first. This feature is particularly convenient for people with phones with smaller screens.
Maps On Demand: To keep the app light and fast, maps in Uber Lite are not loaded by default, but are available with a tap when you need them.
The app still has the core functionalities that the rider app has; the in-app support, with critical safety features that include the option to allow riders to share their trips with five friends and family.
About Uber
Uber’s mission is to help people get a ride at the push of a button – everywhere and for everyone. We started in 2009 to solve a simple problem – how do you get a ride at the touch of a button? Eight years and over five billion trips later, we’ve started tackling an even greater challenge: reducing congestion and pollution in our cities by getting more people into fewer cars.
Uber is available in thirteen cities in Sub-Saharan Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Joburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Nairobi, Mombasa, Lagos, Abuja, Kampala, Accra, Kumasi and Dar es Salaam). Overall, the Uber network is available in over 600 cities in over 75 countries including spanning 6 continents. To request a ride, users must download the free application for Android, iPhone, Blackberry 7, or register for Uber at www.uber.com/go. For questions visit www.uber.com.
–
By: Jeffrey Owuraku Sarpong | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
