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How to Use the Uber Driver App [Step-By-Step]

Learn how to efficiently navigate the Uber driver app and maximize your earnings with our step-by-step tutorial on how to get the most out of the app.

Key Takeaways

  • Download and sign up on the app, then complete the application process.
  • Accept rides, use navigation, and complete trips to earn money.
  • Rate riders to help maintain community standards and safety.
  • Monitor earnings and explore promotions for additional income opportunities.

What is the Uber Driver App?

Since its initial development, the Uber driver app has faced a long and complicated journey. After its overhaul in 2018, it turned from a simple app for accepting ride requests into an all-in-one platform for the day-to-day needs of Uber drivers and delivery partners.

It also combines the functionality of the Uber ridesharing app with Uber Eats food delivery, providing a common workspace for both Uber gigs.

While having everything in one place is an elegant solution that saves time, it may also easily overwhelm new users with its abundance of drop-down menus and features.

In this article, we’re going to cut everything down to the essentials and show you how the Uber driver app works for your everyday ridesharing purposes.

How to Use the Uber Driver App [Step-By-Step]

1. Download the App and Sign Up

You can download the Uber driver app—which is used by drivers and delivery workers alike—from Google Play or the Apple App Store. To run the app, you’ll need an Android phone with Android 8 or higher or an iPhone running iOS 15 or higher.

If you haven’t applied for Uber yet and set up an account, you can do so by registering on the app and providing all the required details and documents. After about a day, once Uber goes over your details and runs a background check, you should be able to log in.

In case you were referred to Uber by a friend, make sure to enter a referral code so both of you can take advantage of referral bonuses.

2. Take Your First Trip With Uber

Before getting into the finer details of the Uber driver app, it’s a good idea to learn the bare essentials through practice. We’ll tell you how to go about accepting trip and delivery requests and successfully carrying them out.

  • Go Online: By pressing the big blue button, you’ll go online, signaling that you’re ready to accept requests.
  • Accept a Ride Request: Once the system matches you with a nearby rider looking for a ride, you’ll receive a pop-up dialog along with an infobox showing you the rider’s location, destination, rider rating, estimated distance, and time required to arrive. You’ve got 15 seconds to accept or reject the request before it’s automatically rejected.
  • Activate Navigation: After pressing the “Start Navigation” button at the bottom left of the screen, you’ll move to the app’s built-in GPS navigation map screen or your third-party navigation app of choice (we recommend Google Maps or Waze).
  • Collect the Passenger and Drive to Your Destination: Before driving off to pick up the rider, pull the green “Start Trip” slider to the right. Once you arrive at your destination, use the red “Complete” slider to mark your trip as finished.

Using the app for Uber Eats follows an almost identical procedure, with the only major difference being that you deliver food to customers rather than help passengers navigate to their destination.

3. Rate Your Rider

Once you complete your trip, you get the opportunity to rate your rider based on their conduct during the ride, on a scale from 1 to 5.

If you choose a rating lower than 5, you’ll also get the opportunity to include some extra feedback and explain the lower rating. This may include reasons such as rudeness, being late, refusing to buckle up, leaving a mess behind in the car, or not providing any tips.

Leaving a rating with feedback will help your fellow drivers know what they can expect from the rider and possibly ban them from using the service if they consistently act in an unpleasant, disrespectful way.

4. Monitor Your Earnings

You can use the “Earnings” tab to track your earnings at a glance. It’ll instantly update your total earnings with every trip, letting you see reports on your total, daily, and weekly earnings.

The time needed to receive your pay will vary based on your deposit option. Choosing a regular deposit will add money to your bank account every week, while opting for Instant Pay will see that you cash out your money instantly, up to six times per day, for a small fee.

5. Keep Track of Special Opportunities

The Uber driver app lets you stay up-to-date with various opportunities that’ll help you make more money while driving.

You may access these promotions through the “Promotions” tab in the app menu or by clicking “Today’s Opportunities” at the bottom of the map for limited daily opportunities.

We’ll list the different kinds of promotions that apply both to rideshare drivers and delivery drivers and which you may take advantage of.

Note that the extent of this feature’s availability may vary depending on your location, and you may be locked out of some of them.

Uber Surge Pricing

When demand in a specific area rises above the usual, Uber will use increased rates to encourage drivers to drive. When this mode is active, you can see the areas where it applies by their different colors on the map, ranging from light orange to dark red depending on how big the bonus is.

Uber Boost+

A newer promotion that works similarly to Surge Pricing, Uber Boost+ identifies areas and times that regularly see greater demand for drivers and offers cash bonuses for driving there and then.

The main difference with Surge Pricing comes from the ability to schedule Boost+ rides in advance, as the bonus zones are determined on a more long-term basis rather than right upon sensing a greater-than-usual demand in a certain area.

Uber Quest

Uber Quest allows you to pick a specific target to complete, earning a bonus if you do, such as extra money or a lower service fee.

The tasks you could do as part of this promotion include completing a consecutive series of trips without rejecting or canceling any, completing a certain number of rides within a set timeframe, and such.

To track your progress toward your daily goal, you can check the Quests tab under the Promotions or Opportunities options in the driver app.

6. Finish Your Shift

Once you’ve completed every request you were planning to make during a shift, you can pull up the white bar at the bottom of the app and tap “Go Offline” to disconnect from the service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Rely on the App to Complete an Ongoing Fare if the Connection Goes Out?

In most cases, the app will be able to pick up the status of a ride at the moment when connectivity was lost and successfully figure out the gaps once it goes back online, so you don’t have to worry about having your fares canceled even when you lose connection.

What App Do Uber Drivers Use for Directions?

Apart from the built-in GPS, it’s possible to connect Waze or Google Maps to the app and use them as an alternative.

Wrapping Up

While the Uber driver app may seem overwhelming to newbies, it’s not hard to get a hang of it after a little bit of practice.

With the tips laid out here added to the mix, you should be able to get a grasp of everything you need to carry out a successful ride, take advantage of promotions, and check on your earnings.

Good luck, and happy driving!

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