The latest move in Uber's rivalry with Lyft? Uber's new request endpoint that will allow developers to connect it to other apps. With the chance to call a car while using any other service, the possibilities are endless — and members of the forum Hacker News are having a field day brainstorming new uses for Uber. Here are some of the best ones:
1. "An app for blind dates. Combines Tinder, Yelp, Uber, and Airbnb, with a pretty workflow over the top. Call it 'Dial-a-date.'"
For busy professionals, the opportunity to meet someone on a 15-minute car ride to a meeting sounds like a dream come true — as does the immediate excuse to leave if the conversation runs dry. I could actually see a reality TV show coming out of this. Perhaps some hybrid between Next and Cash Cab?
Connecting to Airbnb for a blind date sounds like jumping the gun, though — but hey, it could be a really good car ride.
2. "'Bar roulette' where you would hit a button, an Uber would show up, then take you to a random bar sourced from Yelp.”
As someone who has spent too many hours of my life sitting around a computer with my friends, Yelping bars and restaurants that all look pretty much the same, an app to pick a venue for me, and take me there before I have the chance to say "But what about this place?" would be the perfect remedy for my decision paralysis.
3. "I built a mobile-web surge avoider. If you load that up on your mobile phone you can search for the location nearest to you with low or no surge, and then deep link into the Uber app to actually call the car."
Bam. This developer was on it.
While Uber may not be happy about this clever trick around its fare surges, I’d certainly prefer walking a few blocks to a lower-traffic area to paying 2.5 times the typical price.
4. "Could a 'traffic jam on demand' be built using this? A la Chris Christie?"
There would hopefully be some sort of user agreement preventing this, but the idea is pretty funny as a joke — and a possible recourse when you’re desperate for an extra hour to clean the apartment before relatives show up.
5. “An app that allows people to search up the products of small local businesses nearby, pay for them via mobile, and then have it delivered to them via a trusted Uber driver.”
Yes. This.
This would have been so helpful when I was shopping for furniture.
6. “Pizza Hut, Dominos, Chinese restaurants all do delivery... why not all of the other restaurants? Imagine an app that aggregates a bunch of restaurants and allows users to place orders.”
If Uber could integrate with Seamless or GrubHub, restaurants that don’t normally provide delivery could be added to these apps. Diners would have more options, and restaurants would gain business.
These new features would by no means makes up for Uber's sexist business practices or its CEO’s chauvinistic remarks, but I have to admit, the chance to get a date in an Uber car? Pretty tempting.
Images: Getty Images (1), Giphy (1)
