Uber wants to be everywhere, and it plans to extend its reach by encouraging developers to incorporate the car-hailing service into their own apps.
Just one day after announcing that it will start delivering perishable grocery items in certain Washington D.C. neighborhoods, the San Francisco start-up announced that it is making its API for the Uber app available to all developers. This allows them to integrate all Uber services into their own apps so that users can schedule their own rides without having to open the Uber app itself while receiving free Uber credits for convincing new customers to sign up. Uber also provides a $30 credit to all new customers who sign up through one of the partner apps.
"As of today, we officially open-to all developers-access to many of the primitives that power Uber's magical experience," writes Rahul Bijor of Uber's product management team. "Apps can pass a destination address to the Uber app, display pickup times, provide fare estimates, access trip history and more."
Nearly a dozen other partners have already signed up to partner with Uber, including popular apps such as TripAdvisor, OpenTable and United Airlines, and are set to simultaneously launch updated versions of their apps on Wednesday.
Users of the TripAdvisor app, for instance, can now view estimated Uber fares for the listing of hotels, restaurants and attractions featured on TripAdvisor and, by tapping the "Ride there with Uber" button, they can hail an Uber car to their current location.
The United Airlines app can send users a notification when it's time to make a reservation for an Uber car to take them to the airport. It will then show the user the closest cars within the area and estimated fares to the destination. Now, if travelers made dinner reservations at a restaurant through OpenTable, they can also book an Uber ride and the driver will already know where they are headed.
Other apps launching with the Uber functionality include Expensify, Hinge, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Momento, Starbucks, Tempo Smart Calendar, Time Out and TripCase.
"We believe that any app with a map is a potential Uber API partner," says Bijor.
In May, Uber announced its partnership with Google by having its car-hailing functionality integrated with Google Maps. But with a $17 billion valuation and $1.2 billion raised in funding from of venture investors as well as the estimated 200 million users of its 11 app partners and a presence in more than 50 countries, Uber is ready and raring to work with other partners and position itself as the ground transportation app of choice.
