Mother and father will not should depend on texts or cellphone calls to understand how their teenagers’ Uber rides are going. As an alternative, they’ll be capable to see for themselves.
Uber on Tuesday launched a stay video streaming characteristic for teen accounts that lets dad and mom or guardians verify in on how a visit goes in actual time. It makes use of the selfie digicam on the driving force’s cellphone, so relations can keep watch over something occurring within the car.
The stay video characteristic is being piloted in 9 areas: Atlanta; Phoenix; Orlando, Florida; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; El Paso and San Antonio, Texas; Cleveland; and Rhode Island. It’s slated to roll out throughout the US within the coming weeks, Uber says.
“The characteristic is designed for fast check-ins, giving dad and mom one other option to really feel assured the whole lot on their teen’s journey goes easily,” the corporate mentioned in a launch.
Uber teen accounts launched in 2023, with the aim of creating it simpler for folks and guardians to maintain tabs on their children’ rides. They will comply with alongside within the app to trace a visit or supply, and obtain real-time standing updates. It’s one among a number of options Uber and different ride-hailing platforms have rolled out over time to assuage issues about rider security. That features audio recordings and the choice to simply favourite and block drivers on Lyft.
So as to add an Uber teen account, go into the app and faucet Account > Household to create a household profile. Then faucet Invite household > Teen > Select contact and faucet on their title out of your contacts. Your teen can then request a experience, as long as your fee data is updated.
To keep up privateness, solely a teen’s linked dad or mum or guardian can watch a stay stream throughout a experience. That video can also be encrypted, Uber says, in order that “neither the driving force, guardian or teen has entry to the recording of the stay video stream after the journey ends.”
Journey-hailing firms have additionally rolled out options catered to older riders. Final yr, each Uber and Lyft concurrently debuted simplified variations of their apps with bigger textual content and stay cellphone help, in an try to spice up ridership amongst adults over 65 years outdated.
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