Ride-sharing app Uber has announced a new round of updates and additional features for its service, including a new tool that allows riders to follow the navigation path of the ride as well as sharing final destination information before getting into the car.
It comes as the company continues to look for new ways ways to compete in a market that has seen dramatic growth in the past 12 months.
"We envision a day when there is no coordination necessary to take an Uber ride," read a blog post by Uber announcing the new features. "Simply push the button, and the rest is essentially on cruise control: the car quickly shows up at exactly the right place and whisks you away to your destination via the best possible route. The latest rider and driver app releases take us one step closer to that world with two new features."
The destination feature gives users the ability to enter the location of their final arrival point, which will let drivers know where they are going before the passenger is in the vehicle. Riders will be able to follow the driver's route in a step-by-step navigation tool.
"You can literally skip the step where you tell the driver where you're going," says Uber.
Although Uber says the new features are live, the latest update list that hit the app on Aug. 12 doesn't indicate the new tools, some reports suggest.
The company believes that the new add-ons are key to the continued to success of the service. It also comes on the heels of a very public spat with ride-sharing competitor Lyft, with both sides accusing the other of requesting service and then canceling at the last minute, Tech Times reports.
The battle for ride-sharing supremacy has heated up this year, with Lyft in April announcing a number of price cuts that were aimed at battling against Uber's popularity. Lyft announced that it was pushing into 24 new cities across the United States, bringing its total cities to 60, surpassing competitor Uber, which currently is in 48 cities in the country, but over 100 globally.
