Uber, today announced the launch of Uber Lite which is a trimmed down version of their rider app. The Uber Lite can work even on 2G network connectivity and has a smaller footprint compared to the full-fledged Uber app. Uber is planning to pilot this app in India followed by other countries.
Uber hopes to get the attention of the next hundreds or millions of riders by introducing Uber Lite app. The app weighs just 5 megabytes in size and you can install it on any low spec android device. The Uber Lite fulfils the core functionality and also keeps some existing features like trip sharing with friends and family.
The new Lite app has a redesigned user interface and has a response time of just 300-milliseconds. Some of the new features are specifically meant for limited data plan users. These include guided pickups, tap over type and maps only when you want them. Uber says that they will also add more language support and offline ride request to the lite app.
- Guided Pickups: The app detects your location and guides the users for ride requests. If it fails to detect the location, then the app will show popular nearby pickup points for you to choose from.
- Tap over type: The app learns and caches city’s top places and your frequent visit locations. So you can just tap instead of typing everytime. In short for an Uber ride is just four taps away.
- Maps only when you want: The app gives you an optional map view in order to keep it light and fast. If you opt to not load the map, then a driver’s progress bar will help you with the ride status.
In our opinion, Uber was pretty late to the launch the lite app since Ola already has one. But it is better late than never, so if you want an early access to the lite version, join the weighting list. Hope the article was informative, Peace!