Over these past holidays, Uber completed its billionth trip.
And that got the ride-sharing company thinking about all the time that users of the service spend in an Uber car. That's what led Uber to announce its Uber Trip Experiences on Tuesday, enabling third-party developers to offer their apps to Uber customers while they're en route to their destinations.
Uber Trip Experiences connects riders with their favorite apps at the start of a trip, allowing them to be entertained, while being taken to their destinations. And the "Experiences" are carefully catered to each trip.
So, let's say you enter an Uber ride for a 20-minute trip. Well, Uber Trip Experiences would generate a Spotify playlist that lasts 20 minutes for you to enjoy over the duration of your commute. Pretty clever, right?
If it's a shorter, five-minute ride? Well, Uber Trip Experiences might hit you with a short news update to alert you with. By the time you're done reading it, chances are you'll be at your desired destination.
If you're on your way home after a long day — a long winter day, for instance — there's even an option to preset your heating in your smart home while in your Uber ride, so it's warm and cozy as you enter it.
While the overall Uber Trip Experiences feature is meant to cater to users of the ride-sharing app, the company says that customers "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."
