Uber Technologies Inc. plans to expand its platform to allow app developers engage with passengers during their trips.
The American transport company is calling it "Trip Experiences" and considered it as biggest update to the Uber application program interface, or API. The platform would allow app developers the opportunity to drop an Uber button into their user interfaces. Essentially, it would permit an app, with the user's permission, to serve up a variety of content during that user's Uber trip, based on the specific details of each ride.
Some examples of what Trip Experiences could offer include a music playlist timed for the length of the ride, a five-minute news update, reviews of a restaurant the user choose to visit or a reminder to turn on the heat when going home, according to The Verge.
These are just the benign possibilities for Uber's Trip Experiences. Companies may see this as an opportunity for brands to swamp users with ads and irritating notifications during their Uber rides. Putting the code in the other companies' hands is a slippery slope.
In a bid to allay privacy concerns that might arise from this feature, Uber claims that users will have to give complete permission before each app connects to Uber and access their trip details. One can also turn off this feature on an app-by-app basis at any point.
“That said, we know that people’s time is precious and sometimes passengers just want to sit back and relax in peace. So users will be in complete control. They will need to give permission before any app can connect to Uber and access their trip details. And if they find it’s not useful, users will be able to turn off the feature on an app by app basis,” Uber wrote in a blog post.
Similarly, Uber's developer terms will allow developers to access user data only during the ride and they are prohibited from using this data to send unsolicited promotions to users, Bloomberg reported.
Zomato, Practo, Zo Rooms and Housing are some of the companies that previously integrated Uber API in their apps.
Uber is valued at $62.5 billion and operating in more than 300 cities. Recently, the company completed one billion rides worldwide.