Uber Puts a Ride Tracker on the iPhone Lock Screen

Uber has now implemented iOS 16's Live Activities feature to place a ride tracker on the iPhone lock screen. This flight-tracker-style widget shows your Uber ride's status, including its estimated arrival time.

This update follows Uber's recent redesign, which integrated public transit options and pricing information directly in the app. As Uber puts it: "we want to make planning travel and saving easier for you."

Live Activities

One of the most remarkable features Apple introduced with iOS 16 is Live Activities, which delivers timely updates directly to your Lock Screen. These notifications can be useful for tracking a variety of things such as food deliveries and sports scores.

When ordering food from Uber Eats, for example, you can receive real-time alerts on your lock screen letting you know when the order was received, when it was ready and when it was picked up by the delivery driver. This makes updating orders much more efficient than waiting for push notifications each time they become available - an enormous improvement over the old method of waiting until a notification was sent out for each update.

Therefore, Live Activities are an invaluable feature for many. While it may be annoying to constantly receive updates on your Lock Screen, iOS makes it simple to disable them or set a dismissal policy so that updates only remain visible for a few hours after they conclude.

To maximize Live Activities, apps should limit their content display to keep it glanceable and easily read. Ideally, this should adhere to the system's default content margin and only show relevant material tailored specifically for that person.

A successful dismissal policy should allow Live Activity to be removed from the Lock Screen at a later time, or automatically after four hours. You can specify an immediate date within that four-hour window with immediate(_:dismissalPolicy:), or after(_:dismissalPolicy:) provides an automatic date after which Live Activity will be eliminated permanently from the lock screen.

If your dismissal policy doesn't automatically clear Live Activity from the Lock Screen, you can manually do so by long pressing Dynamic Island and selecting Live Activities.

Though you cannot view Live Activity on Dynamic Island or Lock Screen, long pressing the app and selecting Live Activities will bring out all details. This is especially helpful for iPhone 14 Pro users who can track their Uber or Uber Eats orders in two places at once.

Dynamic Island

On the latest iPhones, you'll notice a small notch at the top of the display that isn't quite a punch hole. Apple refers to this element as "Dynamic Island", an interactive element that can be used with certain apps.

It works by combining two smaller cutouts than the iPhone X's notch to form a pill-shaped hole that can expand and contract depending on what information is displayed. This makes it convenient to quickly glance at some important data without opening an app or switching to the notification panel.

For instance, if you use the Maps app, Dynamic Island will expand to show your current location and estimated arrival time for your ride. This can be especially helpful if you're in the middle of something else and forget what ordered or when it should arrive.

As previously noted, Dynamic Island can serve as a hub for shortcuts that take you directly to apps running in the background, like music-streaming apps or timers. When pausing or ending a timer, a small progress bar will appear at the top of Dynamic Island; you can adjust its duration from there too!

This is an excellent addition to the iPhone, especially as Apple recently added Live Activities support to iOS 16. This means some real-time events from compatible third-party apps will appear on both lock screens and in the dynamic island when you unlock it.

Presently, only a select few apps offer support for Dynamic Island. However, this number is expected to expand as more developers add functionality.

At present, it's worth testing which iOS apps on your phone support this feature to see how animations work and what other functions it might offer. The most obvious uses include Face ID to unlock the phone, plugging in to charge it, and even identifying which set of AirPods is connected - but there's more that can be done.

Lock screen notifications

Uber recently updated their mobile app to make booking rides simpler with fewer taps. The update, available for both iOS and Android devices, added several features like Live Activities integration for real-time tracking of rides, a Services tab that compiles all company products in one place, and an Activity Hub where customers can store past trips and Eats orders.

The most useful new feature is Live Activities, which provides critical updates on a ride right from your Lock Screen--including its latest estimated time of arrival and trip status. In addition, you can view various other interactive notifications like weather conditions or taxi waiting times right there on the Lock Screen.

It's worth noting that you can customize your iPhone's lock screen with widgets, which are small graphical icons which appear when you swipe right from the Home or Lock Screen. These provide quick access to information like today's headlines, weather conditions, battery levels and calendar events - all at a glance!

Although you can have a lot of widgets on your homescreen, it's best to keep the Lock Screen free from clutter. In the widget selection view, you can quickly scroll down and delete any unnecessary icons while also adjusting the order of your chosen widgets.

Apple's latest platform update, iOS 16, gives you unprecedented control over your lock screen. From Live Activities and Dynamic Island to widgets and wallpapers, the possibilities are endless.

The great thing about lock screens is that you can customize them according to your needs and style. For instance, you could stick with a sports theme or use different focus modes for each screen. Personalizing your device has never been so enjoyable - all it takes is some effort!

Privacy

Uber recently unveiled a lock screen feature that lets you monitor your ride in real-time. The app will show vehicle details and the latest ETA, as well as whether your driver is waiting for you or already on their way.

Recently, the company's app received an upgrade that includes a redesigned home screen experience and Live Activities integration for Apple customers. Additionally, there's a Services tab and Activity Hub which will inform users about past/upcoming trips as well as Eats orders.

Though iOS gives users more control over location tracking, it's still essential to be aware of what data can be tracked in this way. While some applications do a great job at restricting their access to this info, others can become intrusive and leave traces on your device after deletion.

Uber, for instance, can leave persistent digital ID tags on your iPhone even after you delete the app and wipe your phone clean. These ID tags help developers track which applications and networks were utilized by a given phone.

The tag serves to identify a phone and prevent fraudsters from loading the Uber app onto a stolen one, then using that credit card for rides on that phone. After accepting payment for these rides, fraudsters can wipe the phone clean and create a new account, claiming rewards from the original account in return.

However, some consumers worry that tagging tools such as this could be used against them by law enforcement. A report in The New York Times this week details an Uber program which tracks users it believes are linked to government agencies.

Uber employees would search for clues that someone may be affiliated with city agencies, such as frequent use of the app in a certain area or using credit cards that other users had. Once they identified a match, Uber would Greyball that person from the app.

Uber or any other service has long utilized this tactic, but this marks the first time it's become a permanent part of their app. This move should help prevent fraudsters from obtaining stolen iPhones and taking expensive rides with it.