Uber has been getting some key partnerships lately, into other apps. Allowing users to request an Uber ride from another app without needing to jump into the Uber app to reserve a ride. First, Uber worked with Google and brought Uber into Google Maps, so that when you’re looking for directions you can see how much an Uber would cost and then book one from right there in the Google Maps app. Now, Facebook and Uber have teamed up to bring the functionality into Facebook Messenger.
To get an Uber from the Facebook Messenger app, all you need to do is tap on an address, and then select “Request a Ride” which it’ll then go through the Uber app and get your ride on your way to you. There is also the addition of a car icon in the row of icons above the keyboard now. So you can tap on that and jump into the Uber app and request your ride as well. Once more, you can get ride updates from Uber inside of Facebook Messenger. So instead of getting text messages letting you know your ride is on the way or that it’s there, you will get the messages from Messenger. Pretty great idea, especially for those that don’t want to give out their phone number.
This should be a pretty big hit for Uber, after all Facebook Messenger is one of the few apps that have over a billion downloads. So its user-base isn’t small at all. And being able to meet your friends somewhere for dinner is so much easier now with this integration of Uber and Facebook Messenger, which is the perfect use case for this announcement. Uber is also giving everyone up to $20 off of their first ride taken from inside Facebook Messenger.
Uber says that the functionality will be present when you download or update the Facebook Messenger app. Currently there’s not an update available for Facebook Messenger in the Google Play Store, but we should see an update pop up pretty soon. In the current version, the Uber functionality isn’t there just yet.