Making plans to hang out with friends via Facebook Messenger just got that much easier.
The social media company's app introduced a ride request feature that links right to Uber to make plans being chatted about on Messenger that much more convenient to happen.
The way the new feature will work is say a friend or co-worker suggests a place to grab a drink for happy hour and sends you the bar's address in Messenger. You would tap that address on your smartphone and as soon as you do, you'll be prompted with a request-a-ride option, which comes in the form of those exact words or a car icon that links right to your Uber account.
Once a ride has been requested, Facebook says "driver status updates and payment receipts will get delivered to a private conversation between you and Uber" within Messenger. Pretty cool.
With the partnership, Uber is giving its users a free ride of up to $20 the first time they use this feature through Messenger.
This Facebook Messenger-Uber service is currently being tested with select users within Uber-operating cities in the United States. If it goes over well, Facebook vows to include other countries and transportation partners as part of the Messenger tap feature.
All one has to do to see if they can try out the feature is download the latest version of Messenger.
Everything from on-the-fly lunch dates to business appointments just got more convenient with the introduction of this feature.
