Uber China on Monday released a private beta app update, the first major update since China’s largest ride hailing app, Didi Chuxing, announced its acquisition of Uber China in August.
According to Didi’s announcement at the time of the acquisition, Didi would acquire all assets of Uber China, including brand, business operations, and data. Didi said that Uber China will retain its brand and operate its business independently.
The update is scheduled to be available in some Chinese cities late this month and for users across the country next month. Uber China will soon cease support for the current version.
Over time, Didi Chuxing has developed a series of popular functions which will be available on the Uber update. One of the functions is real-time human service. It enables users to reach human customer service via phone calls. So far Uber China users can seek advice and help via the “HELP” button in the app’s toolbar. Users either read several categories of common questions and solutions, or leave a message.
Apart from the real-time human service, Uber China added a handful of new functions, geared to help its users better spot the car, communicate with the driver, and share routes, according to Tencent Tech.
For example, the app now tells the waiting passenger the car color to help them spot their ride. Users can also leave a message on the app to the driver, so that the driver can pick him or her up at a specified place. Uber China passengers so far can only talk to drivers via phone.
Additionally, Uber China has expanded route sharing communication to allow route sharing via WeChat.
(Top photo from Baidu Images)