Friday, February 7, 2020

Lyft is testing a boatload of new safety, UI, and QoL features for drivers and passengers

Passenger safety is of utmost concern for cab aggregators and ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft. For this reason, the companies include a number of safety features to help passengers in case something goes awry. Earlier this year, Uber introduced 3 new safety features for riders in India in a bid to crack down on driver-related incidents in the country. Similarly, Google Maps also introduced a safety feature back in October last year which was designed to alert users whenever their cab went off route. Now, it seems like Lyft is also prepping up its app to introduce similar safety features, among other things.

According to recent tweets from renowned tipster of unreleased features Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane), Lyft is testing several new safety, UI, and QoL features for both riders and drivers. Here are all the new features that will be released on the Lyft app soon:

Dark Mode for Lyft on Android

Google finally rolled out a system-wide dark mode with Android 10 last year. Since then third-party developers have been working to update their apps to add this new feature. A number of popular apps like WhatsApp and Instagram have already received this functionality. And now, it seems like Lyft will receive its own dark theme soon. As seen in the tweet below, the dark mode in Lyft switches all the white elements, including those in the map, to dark gray.

The dark mode will roll out to both riders and drivers, however, there’s no information from the company regarding the release timeline yet.

Auto-arrive alert when driver is near destination

Lyft is also working on an “Auto-arrive” alert for drivers which will automatically notify riders whenever the driver is near the destination. The feature will show up in the Navigation settings on the Lyft Driver app.

Commute alert for riders

Lyft is also working on a price and traffic alert tool for riders called “Commute alert”. Once released, this feature will allow users to set a route within the app and get tariff/traffic alerts for the route. Users will be able to set a recurring alert at any given time during the day using the Repeat and Notification time sections.

Voice search for entering the ride destination

The ride-sharing app is also testing a new voice input feature which will allow riders to enter their destination using a voice command. The feature will appear as a microphone icon within the search bar. Users will be able to tap on the icon and say the name of a place or an address to enter the destination.

Background location sharing

Lift is also testing a background location sharing feature that will allow the company to make sure that rides are on track and help drivers locate riders easily. The feature will be available within the privacy settings and it will allow riders to share their location either until drop-off or until pickup. In order to ensure user privacy, Lyft will ensure that the background location is shared only when a rider requests a ride and they’ll have the option to stop location sharing at any time.

Along with all the aforementioned features, Lyft is also testing a couple of exclusive features for drivers. These include notification preferences that will allow drivers to select if they wish to receive push notifications or text messages from the app, a biometric lock to secure the app with their fingerprint, a price level indicator for the price watch tool, in-app vehicle service appointment scheduling, and a driver referral mileage bonus. Do note that none of the aforementioned features are live on the Lyft app right now and there’s no information from the company regarding a release timeline.

Source: Twitter

The post Lyft is testing a boatload of new safety, UI, and QoL features for drivers and passengers appeared first on xda-developers.

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