The Uber Driver App – How To Get It And How To Use It
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Any time you have to do something new, there’s a learning curve. Even if you’re can pick up new technology pretty easily, the same holds true for the Uber driver app! New apps can be difficult to understand, and the Uber driver app is no different. It’s definitely a user-friendly app when it comes to the basic features — accepting and rejecting rides is easy to do, and if that’s all you’ve been doing, you probably feel like you have a pretty good grasp on the app. However, there are plenty of additional features on the Uber driver app that can help you earn more money more efficiently, and you should be using them!
Here’s a comprehensive overview to various Uber driver app features, so you never have to wonder if there’s a better way to be making money with Uber. Further down, you’ll find a video that shows all of these features in action. Click here to start your Uber application with a sign up bonus code. You’ll be prompted to download the Uber driver app during the Uber driver application process. You can also download the Uber driver app directly from the Apple app store or Google Play.
Uber Driver App: Home Screen
When you open the app and log into your account, the first thing you’ll see is the home screen. This is where you’ll accept and reject rides. You can navigate to all other features from the home screen as well.
Uber Driver App: Area Map
The home screen displays a map of the area immediately around you, with your location in the center. It also shows SURGE areas — areas where there is more demand for drivers right now. SURGE areas are filled in with shades of yellow, orange, and red, representing how much Uber traffic there is in those areas. Taking rides in SURGE areas results in extra income; however, you should have the Uber passenger app handy, because, unlike the passenger app, the driver app doesn’t show you where other drivers are. You want to wait in an area with fewer drivers, so you get rider requests more quickly.
At the top of the map is a lightning bolt; tapping this icon will bring up information about surge in your area. You can also see which multiplier applies to the fare in the area. Multipliers depend on how much demand there is for riders at the moment — they work in tiers such as 1.3x, 1.5x, and 2.2x. During certain times of day (rush hour usually), some areas automatically surge for a set period of time.
Online or Offline
Near the top of the app is a little switch to go online and offline. Going online ensures that you’ll get ride requests, while going offline is the same thing as having the app completely closed, and allows you to use in-app features without being prompted to accept ride requests. To go online, make sure the toggle button is swiped to the right.
If you tap the toggle button, but it won’t let you go online, there are multiple reasons that you may need to check. First of all, make sure your documents aren’t expired — if your drivers’ license or registration has expired, you’ll need to update those before you can drive. Your account may also be frozen due to a complaint report or an accident, which has to be resolved before you can drive again. Make sure you’re only driving in the city you’ve signed up for; be careful going too far into the suburbs, as it might not be considered the same city. Also, be sure your app is updated to the most recent version. Also, make sure you’re connected to the internet and have your location turned on.
If you’ve made sure these are all in proper working order, but you’re still not able to go online, try submitting a help request.
Uber Driver App: Destination Filter
An extra-helpful feature is the destination filter, which allows you to only get ride requests that are along a trip to a certain destination. When you turn this filter on by clicking the three lines in the upper right hand corner of the app, you can continue to fill requests while also making your way to a destination, whether that’s back home, to an appointment, or to some kind of event. It’s a great way to squeeze in an extra trip before you go back home!
You can only use the destination filter twice in one day, but the filter continues to apply no matter how many trips you pick up along that route. However, if you change the destination, it will use your second filter. Because of this, it’s best to only use it when you’re going to sign off once you get somewhere, but you want to see if you can do one or two more extra small trips beforehand!
Uber Driver App: Announcements and Promotions Feed
On the Uber driver app home screen, towards the bottom, you’ll see some announcements directly from Uber. The announcements and promotions feed is there so you can stay up to date on any changes that may affect your status as a driver, or how much money you’ll be making. It’s a good idea to check the announcements feed every time you log in to the Uber driver app, to make sure you don’t miss any upcoming promotions or quests.
The feed also shows certain promotions such as one-time incentives, or time-sensitive incentive increases. However, this area doesn’t show every promotion available, just a small portion of them. Be sure to keep up with other Uber drivers to take advantage of all available promotions, including ones that aren’t shown on this tab.
Promotions also change frequently! Check the feed occasionally to stay up to date.
Uber Driver App: The Earnings Tab
This tab allows you to keep track of how much you’ve earned so far by using Uber. The earnings amount will be displayed, as well as how many trips you’ve taken to earn that much. It’s important to note that these are estimations, so your actual payment statement may be slightly different. However, it should be approximately the same once you get paid.
The earnings section displays a graph that initially shows your payment by weeks. However, you can break the payments down into weeks, days, or even individual trips, so you can get an idea of how much you’re making on average for each of those time frames. You can also look at the Pay Summaries section to see how much you’ve been paid out in the past, and see how you’re measuring up to your past earnings.
Every Monday, drivers are emailed an official pay statement, and earnings are deposited directly into your bank account.
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Uber Driver App: Invite Section
Also on the earnings tab of the Uber driver app is the invite section. Like many other businesses that rely on having a wide user base, Uber provides a referral program for both drivers and riders. The driver referral program can be incredibly lucrative if you know what you’re doing, which is why you should try to get your referral code out there as much as possible. It’s also great because both you and the person you referred get a bonus! Depending on the city, that bonus could be over a hundred dollars.
In order to get the bonus, the person you’ve referred needs to sign up with your invite code, get approved, and then complete a specific number of rides, depending on the city. The invite section actually tracks where in this process each person is: whether they haven’t completed signing up, are still waiting to be approved, or haven’t taken the requisite number of rides. If someone seems as though they’ve been stuck on a particular step for a while, you can send them an email through the app! Let them know you’re able to help with any questions they have, and move both you and them closer to that sign-up bonus.
Uber Driver App: Trip History
This area on the Uber driver app earnings tab is an incredibly detailed history of every trip you’ve taken, and is great to keep an eye on if you want to see a detailed breakdown of your ride payments. The information includes the Uber rider’s name, their destination, any pricing variation such as SURGE pricing, and the earnings you received. You can also report a rider using this tab, or open up a dispute with support for a specific trip.
Uber Driver App: Driver Rating
This tab is one of the most important portions of the Uber driver app. After every trip, the rider and driver get to rate each other on a scale from one to five, based on how much they enjoyed the ride and how safe they felt. In order to keep working for Uber, drivers need to maintain at least a 4.6 star rating, which means that constantly checking your rating is an important part of being able to tell how well you’re doing.
This tab shows your current rating, which is an average of up to your 500 most recent ratings — or, if you have fewer than that, the average of all your ratings. It also shows your acceptance rating, which is equally as important when it comes to driving for Uber. This is a percentage based on the amount of ride requests you’ve accepted versus the requests you’ve received overall. While you don’t have to accept any rides you don’t want to take, be careful about accepting and then cancelling too many rides. That’s a sure way to be deactivated.
Uber Driver App: Rider Compliments
Here, you can check out all the five-star ratings and compliments riders have given you. Riders can send any of eleven stickers — all-star driver, neat and tidy, excellent service, amazing effort, awesome music, cool car, entertaining driver, expert navigation, great conversation, great amenities, and late night hero — as well as add a personal note.
Rider Feedback
If a rider rates you four stars or lower, they are prompted to provide a reason for the low rating, which can give you tips on how to increase your rating. The Rider Feedback section is great if your rating has recently taken a hit; you can see why the rating has gotten lower recently.
Uber Driver App: Driving Rewards
You can check here to see if you qualify for certain Uber rewards, such as discounted car maintenance, fuel cards, savings on phone plans, and even more traditional benefits such as car insurance, retirement plans through Betterment, and health plans.
Uber Driver App: Account
This is an overarching tab to help you with account problems. It covers your profile, which allows you to change your name or other Uber-specific information that will be shown to drivers. You can also update your important documents, including driver’s license and car insurance, as well as payment and tax information, such as your bank account. In the documents tab, you can also see what documents are currently active, as well as which will be expiring soon. If your legal information has recently changed, be sure to change your information here immediately. This is also the place in the Uber driver app where you can get help or contact an Uber agent.
Music
If you have a Bluetooth-capable car, you can use Pandora to sync up with your rider’s choice in music, then play it through the car’s stereo! Many riders will sync their Pandora account with their Uber account, making it easy for you to play music they’ll love.
Safety and Security
Here, you can read about legal concerns, as well as safety protocols for both drivers and riders. You can even learn about certain protocols, such as rules for long rides.
Accessibility
If you are deaf or hard of hearing, this tab is where you can change the ride request alert settings from aural to visual.
Uber Driver App: Help
This tab allows you to directly ask Uber support for help with account problems. It also contains an FAQ that has articles to answer questions and help drivers through common problems without needing to wait on a reply from support. To call Uber support immediately from this tab, simply click the blue phone icon in the upper right hand corner. (Sometimes, the phone icon doesn’t appear, but if you click in the the upper right hand corner, the app will ask if you want to call an agent).
Here, you can also see a log of all your interactions with Uber Support in the past, as well as a summary of your trips and fare. You can open a dispute with any payments you take issue with, as well as report an issue with a rider or a trip.
Uber Driver App: Uber Driver Support Phone Number
You can also call Uber driver support directly at 1-800-593-7069.
Uber Driver App: Settings
Here, you can fiddle with navigation options, connected accounts, accessibility, and much more. These are little things that won’t have a huge effect on your driving experience, but can help you make it more comfortable.
About
Lastly, you can learn a little bit more about Uber as a company, as well as technical details about the app.
How To Use The Uber Driver App – The Video!
Uber has put together a video showing most of the features mentioned above in action.
So, there you have it! A conclusive guide on what you can expect from the Uber Driver app. It can seem very overwhelming just reading about all the different features, but if you use this guide to navigate the app, you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Remember that Uber is constantly updating its app to bring its drivers the best possible experience, so you should be on the lookout for new features at all times. Good luck, and drive profitably.
