In our <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/what-type-of-restaurant-app-is-best-for-your-business">previous article</a> devoted to restaurant app development, we highlighted two types of restaurant apps on the market: 1) restaurant discovery and booking platforms, and 2) branded standalone restaurant apps. We wrote about some successful products out there and made our points in favor of both types of apps.
Now, we&rsquo;re going to outline all major benefits mobile apps for restaurant owners can provide. There are lots of them, so we decided to accumulate these benefits into the seven most important things that will help you enhance your services as you decided to go mobile.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">1. Fast and easy customer experience</h2>
A mobile app helps restaurant owners establish a fast and convenient customer experience, which means reduced wait time and increased sales.
Table booking is the first feature that comes to mind when you&rsquo;re thinking about a restaurant app. However, as we stated in the earlier article, it&rsquo;s not the best strategy to focus on table reservations only. First, they don&rsquo;t guarantee any ROI for restaurant owners. Second, for big and crowded restaurants or chains online bookings, if not organized right, can lead to a real logistical hell at the restaurant. In a case when a restaurant often has free tables, booking feature is simply unnecessary.
Meal ordering is a more valuable feature, that, unfortunately, is less utilized by restaurant app developers. However, allowing app users to choose and order their meals in advance, thus significantly reducing visitor&rsquo;s wait time, will help not only establish better customer experience at your restaurant but also make the staff&rsquo;s work easier and faster.
You can add even more value to this feature by letting app users browse their order history and store their favorite orders. This will make the ordering process even faster and convenient.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 464px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/220/content_panera_roll.jpg" alt="Panera food ordering app" />
<a href="https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html">Panera Bread</a> - one of the most popular apps focused on meal ordering functionality
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">2. Expand your target audience with active mobile users</h2>
As the <a href="https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/survey-25-of-users-have-at-least-one-restaurant-app-on-their-phone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest surveys suggest</a>, people - especially those between the ages of 25 and 34 - tend to use mobile apps to discover restaurants and make reservations. Furthermore, 25% of respondents have at least one restaurant app installed on their device.
Catching up with this trend will not only make restaurant&rsquo;s services better for the existing customer base but also appeal to young people who seek for a good restaurant mobile service. Finally, to retain this audience you&rsquo;ll need to ensure three things: the app, the restaurant services, and the food.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">3. Better discovery</h2>
And by discovery, we mean all possible ways a mobile app can make a restaurant more visible to the customers. <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development">Mobile technologies</a> help deliver the information on a restaurant location, menu and establish an emotional connection with customers by memorable restaurant app design.
The most obvious thing here is discovering a restaurant's location with the help of mapping services. This feature is a must for restaurant and food discovery apps like OpenTable and Urbanspoon, as well as for large chains&rsquo; branded apps.
But people need to know not only the restaurant&rsquo;s location. They also need to know what does the restaurant have to offer. A mobile app solves this by providing customers with easy menu access. The menu is more appealing when the meals are illustrated with appealing photos. Just note that the reality must correspond to what people see in the app and vice versa.
In the same fashion, restaurant owners can show off their places providing alluring interior photos or even 3D tours to the restaurants.
Nice photos aside, a thoughtful restaurant <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design">app design</a> helps establish a visual communication between restaurant owners and customers, make both an app and a restaurant distinctive and build brand awareness.
Adding social sharing features can help extend the brand awareness to users&rsquo; friends and followers on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can reinforce this feature rewarding users with loyalty points for each share. (We&rsquo;ll touch upon loyalty programs later in the article).
<img style="width: 800px; height: 486px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/221/content_coast_roll.jpg" alt="coast restaurant app" />
Agilie&rsquo;s <a href="online-food-ordering-systems-how-to-create-a-restaurant-online-ordering-website">Coast</a> restaurant app was among the first on the local market to provide social sharing and 3D-tour features
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">4. Retain users more effectively</h2>
Mobile apps' landscape knows a variety of successful approaches to retaining users. &nbsp;Among such features that restaurant mobile app developers can adopt are loyalty programs and user notifications.
Loyalty programs. Both table booking services and restaurant apps retain their users mostly thanks to loyalty programs with discounts and rewards. Gift cards and coupons are things customers tend to lose so stubbornly, and mobile loyalty programs are the best solution to this problem so far.
In our previous article, we mentioned the case of Starbucks&rsquo; app which, thanks to gamification elements and transparent reward system, got a significant rise in user base right after the introduction of the new loyalty program.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 480px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/222/content_starbucks_roll.jpg" alt="Starbucks reward system" />
<a href="https://www.starbucks.com/">Starbucks</a> Coffee Company&rsquo;s app owes its latest success to a new reward program
Notifications. Regardless you want to build your own restaurant app or to provide discovery and booking services, you can keep your app&rsquo;s users informed about the latest deals using email and push notifications. If the deals are regular and fair, and the notifications are personalized, people will anticipate them and, thus, appreciate notifications as a useful service rather than as annoying spam.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">5. Delivery</h2>
Today, extending a restaurant service with the food delivery feature becomes a reasonable option for restaurant mobile app developers. And while it may not be the primary feature to include in a new app, it&rsquo;s still a prospective direction for restaurant services.
Moreover, there are restaurants that serve their customers only with food delivery using mobile apps and websites for ordering. One of the most successful among the delivery-only restaurants is Ando, a part of a large US-based restaurant chain <a href="https://momofuku.com/">Momofuku</a>.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 479px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/223/content_ando_roll.jpg" alt="ando food delivery app" />
Momofuku&rsquo;s Ando - a delivery-only restaurant operating via an iOS app and a website
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">6. More payment options</h2>
Online payments are a big thing now. All types of digital solutions dealing with commerce have adopted it, so have restaurant apps.&nbsp;
There are two types of online payments you can adopt as a restaurant app developer to make restaurant services more effective. The first is mobile payments processed via payment gateways such as Stripe or Braintree (a PayPal subsidiary).
However, restaurant owners may dislike this idea if mobile payments service is provided by a booking platform since it would mean more additional fees that may have a negative impact on the ROI.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">7. Sufficient feedback</h2>
The last for this article but not the least important thing for a business&rsquo;s success is gathering visitor&rsquo;s feedback. Most of the restaurant apps and food discovery platforms provide users with the possibility to leave a review on their restaurant visit.
User reviews play two important roles at the same time. First, as a business owner or/and service provider, you can get feedback on your services to understand how to improve them, thus satisfying your customers even more. But - not less importantly - your visitors&rsquo; reviews act as additional motivators for other people to visit a certain restaurant. Thus, it may be a logical decision to place user reviews on the apps/restaurant&rsquo;s website and allow people to share their reviews.
Want more insights on <a href="online-food-ordering-systems-how-to-create-a-restaurant-online-ordering-website" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restaurant app development</a> for your business? <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts">Contact us</a>, and we&rsquo;ll be happy to discuss it with you!

Let's explore how a restaurant&nbsp;can acquire more customers and provide better services adopting mobile technologies.

Let's explore how a restaurant can acquire more customers and provide better services adopting mobile technologies.

7 Most Important Things Mobile Apps Can Provide to Restaurant Businesses

As we suggested in our <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/local-taxi-booking-and-ridesharing-apps-vs-uber-market-landscape-and-opportunities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous article</a>, Uber&rsquo;s apparent domination of the global taxi booking and ridesharing apps market can also stimulate the emergence of similar apps locally. Applications like Lyft, Ola, Grab, and others got their own considerable market share, and <a href="blog/step-by-step-guide-on-taxi-app-development-features-and-business-model" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shark Taxi</a>, the mobile program we developed and now is supporting at Agilie, felt the rise of popularity even after UberX had launched in our country.
In our article, we'd like to take a closer look at the issue. To be more specific, we&rsquo;re going to make an overview of the benefits of taxi booking apps and provide a few useful development tips.
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">#1. Automate and boost the speed of your services</h2>
A mobile app for the taxi business allows you to streamline the booking stage and remove the dispatcher from your service&rsquo;s workflow. Therefore, all participants in the process would be satisfied:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr">
You, as the app owner, are going to get your source of profit;
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Passengers would be happy to simplify the taxi booking process: they&rsquo;ll no longer need to waste time on dispatcher calls (or stand in the street trying to catch a car).
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Drivers, in their turn, get a chance to answer the call faster, since the app would deal with logistics and process the order in seconds.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<img src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/3325/content_content_content_how_does_a_taxi_app_works_png.jpg" alt="benefits taxi booking" width="800" height="284" />
&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
A taxi booking process as it works in the Shark Taxi app
<h3 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">Other benefits of taxi booking mobile apps</h3>
These benefits are provided by mapping technologies like Google Maps, which allow the following:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr">
Passengers can be up to date on their car&rsquo;s location both while they&rsquo;re waiting and when they&rsquo;re on the move.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Passengers and drivers are able to find the addresses they need faster and choose the quickest route to the destination point.
</li>
</ul>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">#2. Get a larger user base of retaining passengers and drivers</h2>
Hundreds of millions of people are used to taking advantage of applications of all sorts on a regular basis, these programs have become a habitual part of life. And extending your services to mobile gives you access to a wide audience of such people. Using a mobile booking app, passengers will get a chance to make orders in a few taps and drivers won&rsquo;t need to roam about in search of clients.&nbsp;
But to keep the app users engaged, you have to do your best to implement functionalities able to encourage passengers to choose your services and offer drivers beneficial conditions persuading them to partner with your business.
<div class="blog-banner__wrapper blog-banner__wrapper--large"><a class="blog-banner__link" style="background-image: url('https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/attachments/1349/learn_more_1.png');" href="expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="image-incut-hide" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/attachments/1349/learn_more_1.png" alt="iOS and Android taxi app" width="850" height="300" /></a>
<div class="blog-banner__container">
<div class="blog-banner__title">Thinking of creating an iOS and Android taxi app? Our mobile developers are at your service!</div>
</div>
</div>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">#3. Take care of unique features a mobile app</h2>
These are some of the features a mobile app, add them to your service:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr">
Ride Review. The feature helps build confidence between passengers and drivers by encouraging the former to use your program and the latter - to provide their services better. Also, gathering instant feedback will show you the best way to improve your business.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
In-app interaction feature, which allows drivers and passengers to communicate with each other through calls and messages. It&rsquo;s aimed at minimizing delays and miscommunication issues.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Access to booking history and favorite routes. The feature simplifies the re-ordering process and speeds up customer service. The approach is clearly not available in the case of traditional dispatcher-led services.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Loyalty programs, it&rsquo;s an effective way to retain users of taxi booking mobile apps. And by the way, make sure to provide loyalty programs to both groups of users (passengers and drivers). It may require additional spending and is not a must-have feature at the launch, but you may consider it in the future.
</li>
</ul>
The full feature scope of your app, of course, must be refined according to your business goals and budget. Either way, there is a lot of new possibilities worth considering.
<img src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/3326/content_content_content_shark_taxi_roll_1.jpg" alt="mobile app for taxi business" width="800" height="451" />
Shark Taxi app by Agilie
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">#4. Offer different payment options</h2>
Everybody is talking about the convenience of mobile payment systems. However, not all taxi services, drivers, and passengers welcome this new technology. It means you should consider the needs of the target audience in your market and provide it with what it expects and wants to get in order to get maximum user reach.
It&rsquo;s quite possible that your customers would like to have access to different payment options including online payments, plastic cards, and cash. Fortunately, you can implement these features in one application by using modern technology.
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">#5. Partner with other taxi services and drivers</h2>
You don&rsquo;t have to run a car fleet in order to launch a taxi booking app. You can offer your mobile solution for the traditional taxi services that exist in a certain area, and who work in an old-fashioned way (meaning, they don&rsquo;t have a personal cab booking application yet). Or you can make a ridesharing app by partnering with freelance drivers with private cars (it&rsquo;s a so-called peer-to-peer model). In this case, your concern is only maintaining the app&rsquo;s client-side and databases on the server.
By the by, if you're the owner of a traditional taxi service, just admit it: you&rsquo;re in a nice pickle. Your main problem, even the threat, is various taxi booking mobile apps like Uber (and others). It&rsquo;s hard to compete in such conditions!
The logical solution is to take advantage of the same tools to win your share of the audience. So maybe it's high time to design and develop a taxi mobile app to improve your market position.
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">#6. Approach the Ride Sharing App Development competently</h2>
The question "How does a taxi app work?" is answered. Also, you now know how to interest users, where to look for drivers to hire... However, this isn't enough to succeed! So we'd like to give you some more tips to consider:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr">
Market research, which includes:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li dir="ltr">
analysis of competitors (Uber is by no means your only rival);
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
study of the needs of users (both future passengers and potential drivers);
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
research of current trends in the ridesharing apps market.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
The choice of interaction model. We've described your main options in #5. Think about which one suits you best.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Competent UI/UX. In addition to working well and reliably, your mobile booking app should have a modern, visually appealing interface design (it's about the UI). Also, it has to be easy to use (it's about the UX or User Experience).
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Marketing. Even the most top-notch cab booking app won't be able to win a place in the market if you don't make an effort to promote it.
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
Finding a worthy development team. Unfortunately, you're unlikely to cope with all the difficulties of development yourself.
</li>
</ul>
<div class="blog-banner__wrapper blog-banner__wrapper--large"><a class="blog-banner__link" style="background-image: url('https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/attachments/1177/learn_more_3.png');" href="blog/step-by-step-guide-on-taxi-app-development-features-and-business-model" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="image-incut-hide" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/attachments/1177/learn_more_3.png" alt="quality ride-sharing app development" width="850" height="300" /></a>
<div class="blog-banner__container">
<div class="blog-banner__title">We offer quality ride-sharing app development! Follow the link to find out why our team is best suited for the task.</div>
</div>
</div>
We've listed the main advantages of building a taxi booking app and gave helpful tips on attracting the maximum number of users. Of course, we&rsquo;ve provided you with the very basics, but without the basics, it&rsquo;s impossible to ensure the future success of your service. So if you have an app idea on taxi app development, you can safely proceed with its implementation, you know where to start!
<div class="blog-banner__wrapper blog-banner__wrapper--large"><a class="blog-banner__link" style="background-image: url('https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/attachments/1227/contact_us_2.jpg');" href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="image-incut-hide" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/attachments/1227/contact_us_2.jpg" alt="contacts" width="850" height="300" /></a>
<div class="blog-banner__container">
<div class="blog-banner__title">Wanna know more about taxi app development solutions? Contact us - we&rsquo;ll be happy to share our knowledge.</div>
</div>
</div>
&nbsp;

Read our article on the benefits of taxi booking apps to find out what these programs can provide your&nbsp;business with.

A mobile app for the taxi business is a great way to get a source of income and satisfy the needs of all participants in the process at the same time: both drivers and passengers 

Benefits a Mobile Taxi and Ridesharing App Can Bring to Your Business

Last weekend was truly rich with happy events for Agilie! While our CEO, Sergey Gladun, was nominated and won the third prize as a CEO of the Year at the Outsource People conference, our football team became the absolute champions by achieving the top position in the Dnipro Football IT League and winning the League Cup!
Dnipro Football IT League is the regional football/soccer championship where teams from local IT companies compete for fun and to prove they&rsquo;re good not only in software development and modern technologies. The League features playing seasons a year: one takes place in Spring, the other is in Autumn. Last weekend&rsquo;s games concluded the Autumn season of 2016.
<img style="width: 720px; height: 960px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/212/content_14991928_10211040269632265_4299595871486949028_n.jpg" alt="IT League Cup" />
On Saturday, November 5th, the Agilie team played the final Cup game, having defeated our colleagues from Playtika. A quick goal in the first minutes of the game brought confidence in our guys, which helped them to score five more goals and finish the game with a score of 6:0.
On the next day, November 6th, our team played the season&rsquo;s last game in the IT League Championship. This game wasn&rsquo;t a decisive one for our team - we have ensured our championship about a game ago. But it was decisive for our rivals, Noosphere - they had to struggle for the second position in the table. They almost did it: after the half-time Agilie was losing 1:0. But our guys managed to overcome and scored two goals in the second half of the game, winning with a score of 1:2.
Another big thing to celebrate about the season&rsquo;s finale is the becoming of our bombardier, Eugene Kovalenko, the top goalscorer both in the Championship (14 goals after 7 games) and in the Cup (7 goals after 4 games, two of which were scored in the final).
Agilie had won the Cup before - during the Autumn season of 2015. And it&rsquo;s also noteworthy that this year was Agilie&rsquo;s debut in the Championship after ascending from the lower league, the First Division. And the guys aren&rsquo;t going to stop on that!

Our football team became the absolute champions by achieving the top position in the Dnipro Football IT League's Championship!

Our football team became the absolute champions by achieving the top position in the Dnipro Football IT League's Championship and winning the League Cup!

Agilie’s Football Team Becomes the Absolute Champions of the Dnipro Football IT League Autumn Season 2016

On November 1-3, Dnipro State Chemical Technology University of Ukraine hosted the second all-Ukrainian scientific and technical conference on Computer Modeling and Optimization of Complex Systems (CMOCS).&nbsp;
The conference was devoted to the topics of mathematical modeling, neural networks, intelligent computer systems, data processing, and other informational technologies and how they can be utilized in chemical technology, engineering, and economics.
In this event, Agilie took the roles of both of a backer and a contributor. Four of our web and iOS developers wrote articles based on their research works for the university&rsquo;s annual scientific digest.
Web developers Dmitry Derevyagin and Sergey Melashich had their talks on the conference and presented their researches. Dmitry spoke about the building and optimization of custom high-load server systems based on the experience of the development and support of one of Agilie&rsquo;s projects, a mobile taxi booking service <a href="blog/step-by-step-guide-on-taxi-app-development-features-and-business-model">Shark Taxi</a>. Sergey shared an extensive research on applying neural networks and machine learning in the gas-turbine engines design, which is based on his current work as a PhD candidate in a research institute.
<img src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/621/content_content_img_0035.jpg" alt="Agilie at cmocs" width="800" height="600" />
Agilie's&nbsp;Dmitry Derevyagin speaking at CMOCS 2016
Our iOS developer, Gennady Knizhnik, wrote about the peculiarities of using CASE (computer-aided software engineering) for building client-server applications.&nbsp;Agilie&rsquo;s&nbsp;iOS development team lead, Vladimir Zgonik, has contributed an article where he shared our team&rsquo;s experience in&nbsp;Apple Watch app development.
Among speakers and guests at CMOCS 2016 were professors, technical science and engineering &nbsp;PhDs, and students from universities of Ukraine and Poland, as well as specialists from a number of research institutes and technology companies.

On November 1-3, Dnipro State Chemical Technology University of Ukraine hosted the second all-Ukrainian scientific and technical conference on Computer Modeling and Optimization of Complex Systems (CMOCS). Here's how we took our part in it.

On November 1-3, Dnipro State Chemical Technology University of Ukraine hosted the second all-Ukrainian scientific and technical conference on Computer Modeling and Optimization of Complex Systems (CMOCS). Here's how we took our part in it.

Agilie at CMOCS 2016

You have two ways to enter today&rsquo;s restaurant mobile apps market.&nbsp;
The first way works if you&rsquo;re running a restaurant business and want to extend your services online and on mobile platforms: you develop a standalone branded app for your restaurant. The second way is building a platform-like app to partner with restaurants and provide table booking and discovery services.
Regardless of what your business objectives are, you should, first of all, understand the state of restaurant apps market and build your business strategy according to it.
In this article, we&rsquo;ll first make a breakdown of restaurant apps&rsquo; market, and then explore what problems such apps - if done right - can solve both for restaurants and for guests.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">What apps for restaurants exist on the market now</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Restaurant discovery and booking platforms</h3>
<a href="https://www.opentable.com/start/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenTable</a> is the world&rsquo;s largest table booking platform partnered with tens of thousands of restaurants around the globe with the focus on the US market. Through its website and mobile apps, OpenTable allows users to discover restaurants filtering them by cuisine and location, reserve a table, read reviews from other visitors, and collect loyalty program rewards. Restaurant owners must pay a subscription fee to stay visible on the platform.
Operating since 1998, OpenTable makes most of the income from selling POS (Point-of-Sale) hardware that allows restaurants to integrate with their service. Their revenue from subscriptions, while being impressive, is only a secondary income.
The success of OpenTable led to the appearance of similar apps on local markets all around the world.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 475px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/198/content_opentable_roll.jpeg" alt="Opentable for diners" />
OpenTable app for iPhone
Bookatable is an alternative to OpenTable in the UK. The service offers restaurant discovery and booking via their website and mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms. A unique feature that can be highlighted about Bookatable is their promoted hand-picked deals.
Dimmi is the largest restaurant reservation service in Australia&nbsp;and is basically a local OpenTable. Diners can use the website and mobile apps to find a restaurant, book a table, and get rewards.&nbsp;
Zomato is another global platform for restaurant discovery and reservations with headquarters in India. After the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zomato-buys-urbanspoon-2015-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquisition of a successful Seattle-based startup UrbanSpoon</a> in January 2015, the company got access to the markets of the United States, Canada, and Australia. Aside from that, Zomato operates in 23 countries. Zomato offers a wide range of services, especially focusing on the discovery of restaurant and food delivery services. Their app is available for all popular platforms, but the table-booking feature is fully accessible in a web version only - the mobile apps allow to reserve only in select locations.
As you can see, all these platforms spin around the same stack of services: discovery, booking, rewards and user reviews. However, there are restaurant booking startups that try to change the usual formula.
LocalEats, for example, focuses on offering reservations in a hand-picked list of US&rsquo;s best independently owned restaurants. The app works with local restaurants only, avoiding country-wide chains.
<a href="https://allsetnow.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">AllSet</a> app lets not only to reserve a table&nbsp;but also to preorder food. The startup targets at business people who have a&nbsp;busy schedule. AllSet provides booking via mobile apps for iOS and Android&nbsp;and is also one of the first booking services who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/allset-facebook-messenger-chat-bot-book-lunch-2016-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">implemented reservations via a Facebook Messenger chatbot</a>.
<a href="https://resy.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Resy</a> and TableSavvy are popular US&rsquo;s platforms providing last minute reservations with discounts. Resy is currently offering service in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington DC and San Francisco, while TableSavvy operates in Chicago area only.
<a href="https://www.tocktix.com/#/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Tock</a> is a startup launched in 2014 and currently available only as a web service. Tock&rsquo;s unique selling point is discovering the most unconventional restaurants in the US.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 569px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/199/content_tock_web.jpg" alt="Tock restaurant discovery" />
Tock offers to discover the most unusual restaurant experiences
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Branded restaurant apps</h3>
However, <a href="https://www.fsrmagazine.com/marketing/pros-and-cons-opentable" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">not all restaurant owners are excited</a> about the idea of partnering with table-booking platforms like OpenTable. That&rsquo;s why some seek more visibility and enhancement of their services via a standalone restaurant app.
According to the <a href="https://arc.applause.com/2016/06/22/best-restaurant-apps-2016/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">research</a> by Arc from Applause, 45 out of the top 100 restaurant brands don&rsquo;t even have a native mobile app. Sure, most of them have at least a responsive website, but they often lack the convenience and simplicity a mobile app for <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> can provide.
In the same research, Applause suggests that the restaurant apps that enjoy the most popularity (according to app store user reviews) are those offered by casual eating and pizza places.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/panera-bread/id692365393?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Panera Bread</a> is one example of such apps. The app allows users to search for nearest locations, order food and instantly become a reward program member. Among the additional features for iOS users are integration with HealthKit to count calories and a companion Apple Watch app.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 465px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/200/content_arc-by-applause-restaurant-apps-first-edition-figure-5.png" alt="eating apps reviews" />
The most highly rated casual dining apps. Source: Applause
One of the most successful branded apps (if not the most successful one) out there is <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.starbucks.mobilecard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Starbucks</a> Coffee Company&rsquo;s one. The app has burst its way to the market thanks to a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2014/06/13/why-is-the-starbucks-mobile-payments-app-so-successful/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convenient mobile payment system and an automatic reward program</a>. With the latest updates, they brought engaging gamification elements to their loyalty system, including reward points called stars and informative dashboards.
<img style="width: 750px; height: 506px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/201/content_starbucks_stats.png" alt="restaurant mobile payments" />
Starbucks has experienced the continuous rise of mobile payments after the introduction of a mobile app. Source: Bloomberg
Momofuku&rsquo;s <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ando-momofukus-delivery-only/id1104421020?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Ando</a> is another app worth being mentioned here, even though it&rsquo;s rather a food delivery app. Yes, Ando is actually a food delivery app, but its example illustrates perfectly how a successful branded delivery-only restaurant app (or an app-only restaurant, as Ando is positioning itself) may look like.
At <a href="https://agilie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agilie</a>, we have some history with restaurant app development. We&rsquo;ve developed two branded apps for local restaurants: Reporter and <a style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;" href="https://agilie.com/blog/online-food-ordering-systems-how-to-create-a-restaurant-online-ordering-website" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coast</a>. These apps allow visitors to book a table, study the illustrated menu and read news about the latest deals. Both apps also feature 3D tours to promote restaurants and their branded interiors.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 486px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/202/content_coast_roll.jpg" alt="coast restaurant app" />
Coast app by Agilie
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">What should you focus on when planning your own restaurant app</h2>
At the end of 2014, TechCrunch has published an article titled <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/24/the-greasy-underpan-of-restaurant-tech/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Greasy </a><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/24/the-greasy-underpan-of-restaurant-tech/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Underpan</a><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/24/the-greasy-underpan-of-restaurant-tech/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> Of Restaurant Tech</a> written by a technology entrepreneur and investor Bryan Menell. The article was focused on analyzing the reasons why most tech startups spinning around the restaurant business tend to fail.
The focal point of most such failures is this: not everything that may appeal for restaurant goers is also good for the owners, especially when it comes to small restaurant businesses.
But that doesn't mean restaurant apps are useless. The examples of apps like Starbucks and Panera Bread are suggesting the opposite. To succeed in a restaurant app market, you need to consider the pitfalls that cause restaurant apps&rsquo; failures and low ROI&nbsp;and plan your app having the successful cases in mind.
The following are some of our thoughts on what should you consider planning your restaurant app, whether it&rsquo;s a discovery and booking platform, or a branded standalone app.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Table booking isn&rsquo;t necessarily the problem your app should focus on</h3>
Many restaurant apps position table booking as the main feature of their app. However, on the markets occupied by OpenTable, the table booking feature can&rsquo;t be a unique selling point. Moreover, reservations are absolutely customer-centric and <a href="https://qz.com/383261/an-elegant-solution-to-our-terrible-online-restaurant-reservation-landscape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">don&rsquo;t ensure</a> restaurants from ROI losses caused by guests&rsquo; no-shows and cancellations.
Either way, if you have nothing to offer other than reservations, visitors would rather prefer the acclaimed table booking platforms like OpenTable over your app (if you offering a standalone app), or will seek for more valuable features in standalone apps (if you are considering running a booking platform).
That won&rsquo;t be a deal only if you don&rsquo;t have any competitors at all. Otherwise, your app must provide additional value to your target audience.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Focus on enhancing guests&rsquo; experience</h3>
You can not only offer guests to reserve a table&nbsp;but also to place an order in advance, as the app AllSet does. That would be a valuable feature for busy people who don&rsquo;t have time to spend being in a restaurant&rsquo;s waiting list. Enabling app users to store and customize recurring orders will make dining at your place even more convenient.
Not all people love the very concept of eating out, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they aren&rsquo;t the target audience of modern restaurants. You can reach out to these people by adding the possibility to order food with the on-demand delivery - just like Panera Bread or Momofuku&rsquo;s Ando. As a restaurant owner, you also should take a closer look at this concept, since on-demand delivery helps reduce the customer load in your place and serve more people&nbsp;at the same time.
Mobile payments are surely a valuable feature from the guests&rsquo; perspective, and they can be a great extension of services when implemented in a branded app (and done right, like, for example, in the Starbucks&rsquo;s case). However, restaurant owners may dislike this idea if mobile payments service is provided by a booking platform since it would mean more additional fees that may have a negative impact on the ROI.
The same goes for loyalty programs. Most OpenTable users love the platform for its reward program, but if you&rsquo;re planning a booking platform, be ready that some restaurant owners won&rsquo;t like the idea of third-party-provided loyalty programs.
For a dedicated app, on the other hand, a loyalty program is one of the major selling points. Apart from retaining guests, you can use it to encourage people to use your app&rsquo;s additional services rewarding them with more bonuses for, say, making food delivery orders or using mobile payments system.
Finally, aside from features and services, there is another important thing that enhances <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">user experience</a>: clean design and simple menu navigation. Comprehensive information about meals and beverages with filters, tempting images, and easy order placing functionality is another bunch of reasons why diners would prefer your app over a website, or another app or platform.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">3. Restaurant app can be an effective promotion tool as well</h3>
A standalone restaurant app can also be effectively used for increasing the restaurant&rsquo;s visibility and marketing your services. Here&rsquo;s how you can make your app a promotion tool:
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Start a referral program rewarding users with discounts or loyalty points for inviting friends to the app or for a diner.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Geolocation services implemented in the app will provide better discovery of the nearest restaurants.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Encourage app users (rewarding them with loyalty points, for example) to leave reviews that will be displayed in the app or on a website, thus promoting the quality of a restaurant&rsquo;s services.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Show off your place and meals using appealing photos.</li>
</ul>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 611px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/203/content_cafe_app.png" alt="cafe app concept" />
Invite friends and order meals together: a cafe app concept by <a href="https://dribbble.com/alex8volk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Alex Volk</a>, a UI/UX designer at Agilie
Utilizing <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile technologies</a> and expanding restaurant guests&rsquo; experience via convenient food ordering and delivery systems and fair, simple loyalty programs is the winning strategy for any restaurant app, be it an OpenTable-like booking platform or a branded standalone app. But before you decided developing one, you must define the needs of your target audience and know exactly what problems your app will solve - both for restaurants and for diners.
<a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Contact us</a> and get more information about <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/online-food-ordering-systems-how-to-create-a-restaurant-online-ordering-website" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restaurant mobile app development</a>, or visit our services page and learn more about technologies we can implement in your app.

Read our breakdown of today's restaurant apps&rsquo; market, and learn what problems such apps&nbsp;can solve both for restaurants and for guests.

A table booking and food discovery platform or a branded restaurant app? A breakdown of today's restaurant apps’ market and the problems such apps can solve both for restaurants and for guests.

What Type of Restaurant App Is Best for Your Business

Over the last several years, many large television companies went beyond blue screens and presented mobile apps that let their audience watch TV content live or on demand. Apart from that, TV companies also offer mobile apps specifically designed to promote and extend the experience of the fan-favorite TV shows.
In this article, we&rsquo;ll find out how local TV channels can benefit from applying these ideas and developing a mobile app for TV content streaming.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Live video streaming apps provided by TV networks</h2>
You might have already run across apps like HBO Now, Fox Now, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foodnetwork.watcher&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Watch Food Network</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cbs.app" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">CBS All Access</a> offered by television companies from all around the world, that provide full access to their channels&rsquo; content.
The major selling point of these paid subscription-only apps is that they allow their users to save money by subscribing only to the channel they want to watch, never needing to buy the full cable TV package.&nbsp;
<img style="width: 800px; height: 474px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/668/content_content_hbo_now_roll.jpg" alt="HBO now app" width="800" height="474" />
HBO NOW app by HBO company
Meanwhile, some companies - such as British ITV with their <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/itvx/id446079916" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ITVHub</a> and ITV Essentials - offer a freemium model. The subscription in this case only removes ads from broadcasts.
The same companies have also rolled out a handful of apps dedicated to their most popular shows like Game of Thrones, The Kitchen, America&rsquo;s/Britain&rsquo;s Got Talent and others. These apps are aimed to expand viewers&rsquo; experience, gather feedback, and, of course, promote primary TV production.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">What additional value a mobile app can bring to your TV audience</h2>
So, how can your television company or product apply these ideas and go mobile using <a href="how-to-create-a-live-video-streaming-website-like-twitch-and-get-your-revenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video streaming technologies</a>?
First of all, moving the whole broadcasting schedule of your channel to the mobile live streaming format might be a too hasty and costly decision, regardless if you&rsquo;re broadcasting locally or countrywide.
The safer option in both cases is to start by testing the waters and rolling out an app dedicated to your most popular product. It may be a cooking show, a travel show, a talent show - anything that establishes an emotional connection with the major part of your audience.
As a result, you&rsquo;ll be able to retain your audience and to acquire new viewers. Here are the features that will help you do that.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Mobile access</h3>
This is one of few cases when the phrase &ldquo;anytime, anywhere&rdquo; actually makes sense. Expanding your television production to <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile devices</a> will significantly increase your broadcast range, both in geographical and demographical meanings.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Notifications about the upcoming episodes or broadcasts</h3>
Mobile users are always online. Thus, another benefit of mobile broadcasting is that you can notify users with the help of push notifications. Remind them about the upcoming viewings of the new episodes of your show or inform them about important events they can catch turning on your channel.
Notifications sent at the right time will ensure viewers from missing new episodes, which, in its turn, will ensure you from losing the audience. And even more - notifications also help you feed the audience&rsquo;s interest in your primary TV content.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">3. Watching video live or on demand</h3>
Apart from airing new episodes and broadcasts, you can let users rewatch on demand previous streams that will be stored in a cloud.&nbsp;
If you start with a smaller app dedicated to one show only, you won&rsquo;t need significant server capacities. Of course, in case you&rsquo;ll decide to go further and streaming live all your TV content, be prepared for greater server-side expenses.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">4. Gathering feedback from the audience</h3>
Sometimes, it&rsquo;s really hard for TV broadcasters to get reliable information on how the audience is engaged with their production. In a mobile app, on the other hand, you have two ways to get feedback and measure people&rsquo;s engagement.
First, organizing various user polls will help you both gather feedback on your show and engage people by providing them with a possibility to influence the future broadcasts by their vote.
Second, using app analytics tools, you can effectively track user engagement while they watch the broadcasts and interact with the app itself. Thanks to that, you will know how to make both your mobile and television products better and more engaging for viewers.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">5. Social features for community building</h3>
Almost any modern mobile app has social elements. And that&rsquo;s surely a must-have feature if you want to build a community of devoted and engaged active users.&nbsp;
You can encourage users to invite their friends and followers from social networks like Facebook and Twitter, as well as to interact with each other within your app discussing new episodes and participating in polls.&nbsp;
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">6. Unified login system</h3>
Implementing the unified login system makes adding connections from other social networks much easier for users. Moreover, new users will feel more comfortable if your app gives them options to log in quickly using their existing profiles in social networks.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">7. Unique content</h3>
Many TV channels provide online access to their content via social media and video hosting services like YouTube. However, such an approach makes your online content too scattered around social media and difficult to find. It also makes your content totally non-unique. Offering exclusive, well-structured and accessible content in your app will motivate the TV audience to try your mobile product.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 463px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/641/content_content_b_live_roll_2.jpg" alt="b.live live video streaming app" width="800" height="463" />
b.live video live video streaming app by Agilie
Feel free to <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">contact us</a> if you are interested in more ways to expand your TV products&rsquo; audience or want to hear about other possible applications of video streaming technologies.&nbsp;Also, we're more than happy to create for you a <a href="how-to-create-a-live-video-streaming-website-like-twitch-and-get-your-revenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">service to share video online</a>!

In this article, we&rsquo;ll find out how local TV channels can benefit from applying these ideas and developing a mobile app for TV content streaming.

Over last several years, many large television companies went beyond blue screens and presented mobile apps that let their audience watch TV content live or on demand. Let's, find out how local TV channels can benefit from applying these ideas and developing a mobile app for TV content streaming.

7 Benefits a Video Streaming App Can Provide to Your TV Production

Live video streaming apps like Periscope keep gaining popularity among casual social media audiences. However, the technology stack established for this type of apps can be successfully applied in other domains that deal with live video streaming. If you are a security and surveillance system hardware provider, you might, too, be interested in the application of this technology for your business.
The existing third-party solutions often have poor hardware compatibility and, ultimately, may compromise you as a service provider&nbsp;since you can&rsquo;t control what happens to your customers&rsquo; data.&nbsp;
On the other hand, developing your own <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">web</a> app for monitoring your security systems and camera feed live streaming is a secure way to make your products more effective and appeal to new customers.
<h2>How mobile technologies can make surveillance systems smarter</h2>
There always was a number of mobile and web apps that allow users to connect remotely to DVRs, NVRs, and IP cameras and watch the feed from them live. Such apps are often too limited in functionality and don&rsquo;t provide the level of flexibility most users desire. Moreover, an incapable app can compromise both your product and a user&rsquo;s personal data.
To solve this problem, you can incorporate your hardware products with a native mobile app for <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> (and even with a <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/web-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>) that is designed to work with your products specifically. This will enhance the user experience and make your security systems more flexible and effective.
A smart surveillance mobile app powered by the live video streaming technologies lets users to:
<ul>
<li>Watch high-quality live video feed from cameras using their phones, tablets or web browser.</li>
<li>Control a PTZ camera remotely using simple gestures to pan, tilt, and zoom.</li>
<li>Store and have permanent access to recordings right from a device&rsquo;s disc and in a secure cloud.</li>
<li>Get push and email notifications about the events (motion detections, noises) captured by the security equipment.</li>
<li>Schedule recordings, so cameras would work only in hours required by a user. &nbsp;</li>
<li>Incorporate any number of cameras to the system, scaling it according to current needs.</li>
<li>Broadcast the live feed from the camera to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.</li>
<li>Make snapshots from the feed.</li>
<li>Map surveillance locations using geolocation capabilities.</li>
<li>Feel safe about their personal data: all data is encrypted by secure data transmission protocols.</li>
<li>Monitor the video stream using any device - from handset to tablet to laptop/desktop computer.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Use our team&rsquo;s experience to build a security ecosystem</h2>
We at Agilie have&nbsp;developed a live video streaming app b.live. It&rsquo;s designed and built natively for iOS and Android systems using different sets of technologies for each platform. Here's how our experience can help during the development of your app.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 468px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/186/content_b_live_roll_1080.jpg" alt="live streaming app design" />
b.live app by Agilie
<h3>Less time needed for development</h3>
Since we&rsquo;ve developed a live video streaming app, we already have the technology stack for both iOS and Android platforms to establish live video feed streaming, which significantly decreases the time required for app development. We don&rsquo;t need to integrate video streaming protocols or backend infrastructure from scratch - we only need to fit with your hardware.
<h3>Continuous support</h3>
We&rsquo;re ready to provide full post-release support: from app updates to backend server maintenance. We&rsquo;ll make sure the app is compatible with your new hardware and will be up-to-date with the latest mobile devices as well as the latest versions of OSs and web browsers. Also, we can multiply server-side capacities proportionally to the growth of your user base.
<h3>Security</h3>
Since your customers will now use the app provided by you, and not a third-party solution, all their data will be stored on a private server cluster. This guarantees the security of the data and safeguards you from being compromised by poor third-party software. Also, the video encryption protocol ensures the video is transmitted securely from camera to user&rsquo;s device.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 533px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/185/content_photo-1461175128502-8b13d90ee1ec.jpg" alt="security mobile video streaming" />
Incorporating your video surveillance systems with native mobile and web apps means forming an ecosystem that will make it much easier for your customers to monitor their business, house, or private property.
The knowledge and the technology stack we&rsquo;ve got at Agilie allow us to build a smart surveillance mobile app in the shortest term, make your security system more flexible, and, finally, keep you and your customers from cybersecurity threat. You'll <a href="how-to-create-a-live-video-streaming-website-like-twitch-and-get-your-revenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">get a real-time video streaming app</a> which will even your exceed expectations.
If you are considering to modernize and expand your security services by giving your customers more control over their security with the help of mobile and web apps - please, <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">contact us</a>. We&rsquo;ll be happy to hear your thoughts!

There are a number of mobile and web apps that allow users to connect remotely to DVRs, NVRs, and IP cameras and watch the feed from them live.

Developing your own mobile and web app for security systems and live camera feed monitoring is an effective way to give your customers more control over their security.

Modernizing Surveillance Systems with Live Video Streaming Mobile Apps

The market landscape of taxi services changes rapidly. Especially, since Uber came to the stage and turned the market upside down by popularizing the idea of peer-to-peer (p2p) mobile taxi booking and ridesharing.
This variation of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/sharing-economy" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">sharing economy</a> for taxi services has different names (ridesharing, ride-hailing, carpooling, private taxi services) and shapes (booking of cabs, private cars, personal chauffeurs, buses), but the idea is always the same: instead of traditional taxi services with dispatchers, car fleets and hired drivers, apps like Uber offer the format where passengers deal with drivers using the booking service only as a proxy.
Uber had not just disrupted the market. They had kickstarted the emergence of the new ridesharing marketplaces. And even though the concept of apps like Uber is often <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_protests_and_legal_actions" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">questioned and criticized</a> by traditional taxi services, such apps are now taking over local markets across the world. Even in the US, Uber is facing competition presented by Lyft and - <a href="https://time.com/nextadvisor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">until recently</a> - Sidecar, a company that co-pioneered the mobile ridesharing business.&nbsp;
What does it all mean for app developers, drivers, and taxi services? Let&rsquo;s see how different ridesharing and private taxi services achieved success in their local markets&nbsp;and try to&nbsp;answer this question.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Lyft</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 606px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/180/content_lyft_carpool-screens-1200x909.png" alt="lyft app" />
Source: Forbes
<a href="https://www.lyft.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Lyft</a> started as a US-only peer-to-peer ridesharing service in 2012 and eventually evolved into a hybrid between p2p rideshare and taxi booking formats. As for 2016, it has increased its market coverage significantly by partnering with other market giants from all over the world: Grab (former GrabTaxi, Southern Asia) and Didi Chuxing (China).
Although Lyft is far from Uber&rsquo;s domination in the US, it has become an honorable (however still a distant) No. 2 on the market, having their&nbsp;own peachy market share and continuing to expand.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">myDriver</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 380px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/205/content_mydriver_roll.jpg" alt="mydriver chauffeur and limousine booking app" />
<a href="https://www.mydriver.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">myDriver</a> is a Berlin-based subsidiary from Sixt, a large European multinational car rental company. myDriver was launched in 2013 as an alternative to conventional mobile taxi and ridesharing services. The company&rsquo;s main idea is to provide quality limousine and chauffeur services for both corporate and private clients with competitive fixed rates.
Today, myDriver extends Sixt&rsquo;s services offering Android and iOS users chauffeur, limousine, and private car services, as well as airport and exhibition transfers. For group business trips the company provides business-class vans and SUVs.
The service is operating in the majority of Europe&rsquo;s large cities and keeps expanding to Japan, South Africa, UAE, and other countries around the world.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Didi Chuxing</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 377px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/178/content_didi-app.jpg" alt="Didi taxi booking app" />
<a href="http://www.xiaojukeji.com/index/index" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Didi Chuxing</a> (formerly Didi Kuaidi) is China&rsquo;s largest taxi and vehicle booking company that formed after the merger of two rivals, Didi Dache, and Kuaidi Dache. In May 2016, the company <a href="https://fortune.com/2016/08/04/apple-invest-didi-chuxing-china-uber-merger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">got $1 billion of investments from Apple</a>.
Didi has been building international partnerships with Lyft and India&rsquo;s Ola to strengthen the competition with Uber in the US, India, Southeastern Asia and China until in August 2016. That's when Didi and Uber China announced their <a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/08/uber-china-didi-chuxing-deal/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">merger</a>: Uber basically sold its regional subsidiary to Didi Chuxing. Was it a truce? A surrender? That - as well as how this merger will affect China and another big local market -&nbsp;is yet to be seen.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Grab</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 463px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/181/content_grab-new-app-screenshots.jpg" alt="Grab taxi app" />
Source: Tech in Asia
<a href="https://www.grab.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Grab</a>, formerly known as GrabTaxi, is the largest Southeastern Asia&rsquo;s company providing taxi booking, vehicle booking, and ridesharing mobile services&nbsp;operating in 30 cities throughout Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Grab is operating in Southeastern Asia since 2011 and now, partnering with Didi, Ola, and Lyft, they can expand their reach to more markets.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Ola Cabs</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 404px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/182/content_ola_roll.jpg" alt="Ola cabs" />
<a href="https://www.olacabs.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Ola Cabs</a> is the leader in India&rsquo;s taxi booking app market - Uber is only second to it. In 2015, Ola reasserted its domination by <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/02/olaforsure/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">acquiring</a> a taxi aggregator TaxiForSure.
After the Uber-Didi merger in China, Ola <a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/08/uber-didi-merger-ola/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">has reasons to worry</a> about the reignition of their rivalry with Uber in India. It&rsquo;s even possible that this rivalry will end up in another merger. Otherwise, it may become an opportunity for smaller players in India&rsquo;s taxi booking market, who could use this clash of giants to their advantage.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">GoCatch and ingogo</h2>
<a href="https://gocatch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoCatch</a> and <a href="https://www.ingogo.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">ingogo</a> are two small taxi booking apps that emerged on Australia's&nbsp;market as alternatives to Uber X which appeared there earlier. As a selling point, GoCatch uses more affordable pricing and ingogo offer fixed fares to their passengers.
Although the two apps have instantly got their own audience of ride-booking Australians, they couldn&rsquo;t disrupt the local market already occupied by Uber. According to SimilarWeb&rsquo;s research, after some initial growth in Q3 and Q4 2015, both apps saw a decline in active app users over the first two quarters of 2016.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Shark Taxi</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 451px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/183/content_shark_taxi_roll.jpg" alt="Shark taxi ridesharing in ukraine" />
Shark Taxi is a private taxi app for <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a>, <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/web-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web</a> platforms developed and being supported by Agilie. Operating since 2013, Shark Taxi constantly expands its presence on Ukraine&rsquo;s mobile taxi booking/ridesharing market, appearing in more and more cities and metropolitan areas all over the country.
Uber hasn&rsquo;t yet stepped on the markets of most developing countries. In Ukraine, Uber X has been launched just recently - in July 2016, - and it&rsquo;s now operating only in the capital, Kyiv. For Shark Taxi, which has already established itself&nbsp;in other regions, the hype around Uber X&rsquo;s launch became a marketing booster that only increased the number of the app&rsquo;s active users.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Is there still room for new mobile taxi booking and ridesharing apps?</h2>
Yes, there is. And the biggest advantage has the local services operating in the territories still uncharted for Uber and other big companies. The success of apps like Uber has raised people&rsquo;s interest in mobile taxi booking and ridesharing services (and even beyond them, as we can judge by the &ldquo;Uber for X&rdquo; phenomenon), and those who fit the niche before Uber&rsquo;s arrival have more chances to succeed. Otherwise, they might not be so lucky - as we see from the experience of Australian apps GoCatch and ingogo.
The key to achieving success for taxi booking apps that operate on a local level is applying Uber&rsquo;s experience and its way of doing business, at the same time, making their services more affordable to customers.&nbsp;
Specifically, they should focus on three key points.
Placing an order. The benefits of mobile don&rsquo;t go down to the possibility to book a car &ldquo;anywhere, anytime&rdquo;. Mobile technologies allow using a device&rsquo;s GPS capabilities for a faster search for the closest car, the shortest route, and online payment services for paying for a ride in advance. All this helps to eradicate the unnecessary lags in passengers&rsquo; experience.
Payment processing. The integration of mobile payments has become a must in almost any type of apps. However, for taxi apps - especially for those operating in local markets - it&rsquo;s important to support all popular types of payment processing: online payments, plastic card payments, and the old good cash.
Building trust between passengers and drivers. Uber is notable for its approach to partnering with the trustworthy drivers, as well as for its rating systems that allow both passengers and drivers to learn who will they interact with and what riding history these persons&nbsp;have. This is not the flawless way to build trust between passengers and drivers, but it works nonetheless.
Transportation service companies must act now and adopt mobile app technologies. It&rsquo;s a perfect opportunity for them to partner with the established local mobile services or consider developing their own mobile taxi booking app. On the other hand, entrepreneurs should, too, consider fitting this market before other companies will do that. One way or another, it will lead to the enhancement of the taxi services&rsquo; quality and the emergence of new successful marketplaces.&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re interested in <a href="step-by-step-guide-on-taxi-app-development-features-and-business-model" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxi app development</a>, check out our Shark Taxi case study, and <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">contact us</a> for further collaboration.

Let's check some stories from local markets where taxi booking and ridesharing apps coexist with the industry giant.

Uber seems to have international domination. Or does it? Let's check some stories from local markets where taxi booking and ridesharing apps coexist with the industry giant.

Local Taxi Booking and Ridesharing Apps vs. Uber: Market Landscape and Opportunities

Blockchain has become a paradigm shift that changes the operations of different industries. Nevertheless, like any other disruptive technology, a lot of myths and misconceptions have appeared. We should differentiate between fact and fiction to use blockchain technology effectively and responsibly. We can better understand what blockchain is (and isn&rsquo;t), how it functions, and the varied applications it holds besides cryptocurrencies by clarifying these misconceptions.
<div id="form-description" class="form-description" data-title="Key Takeaways" data-text="Blockchain is not just about Bitcoin; it is the technology that can transform different fields. 

Blockchains are strong but not flawless, and being aware of the possible weak sections is a very important thing in keeping the network safe.

Educational investment and partnerships with software development experts are the main factors for businesses that will use blockchain technology.">
<div class="form-description-title">Key Takeaways</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Blockchain is not just about Bitcoin; it is the technology that can transform different fields.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" aria-level="1">
Blockchains are strong but not flawless, and being aware of the possible weak sections is a very important thing in keeping the network safe.
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Educational investment and partnerships with software development experts are the main factors for businesses that will use blockchain technology.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 dir="ltr" role="presentation">&nbsp;Myth 1: Blockchain and Bitcoin Are the Same</h2>
Among the most common myths about blockchain technology is the confusion between the blockchain and Bitcoin. Blockchain and Bitcoin were created simultaneously, so they are widely believed to be the same thing. However, we must understand that blockchain is a much broader term. It is the technology that created Bitcoin. While Bitcoin is indeed the first and most famous application of this technology, equating the two is like saying that Google is the Internet.
Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger technology (DLT) that records transactions across multiple computers so that the records cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network.
This makes blockchain a naturally secure and transparent method of data and transaction recording.&nbsp;
Bitcoin is a type of digital currency based on blockchain technology and used for secure, anonymous, and decentralized financial transactions. The blockchain of Bitcoin acts as a public ledger for all the transactions in the Bitcoin network, thus, it is possible to transfer digital currency securely without the use of intermediaries like banks or governments.&nbsp;
Blockchain technology can be much broader than purely financial transactions. It can be used in different industries with various aims. Nowadays, many businesses are studying how blockchain can improve their operations (read more about <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/enterprise-blockchain-development-how-businesses-derive-benefits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enterprise blockchain development</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/enterprise-blockchain-development-how-businesses-derive-benefits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enterprise-grade blockchain development</a>).

Here are a few examples:
Healthcare: Blockchain can guarantee the safety of medical records storage and sharing. Thus, they are only available to authorized personnel and patients and lead to quicker diagnosis and treatment.​
Financial Services: Blockchain is a viable solution for international payments, real-time settlements, and improving transaction transparency and security.
Digital Identity:&nbsp; Blockchain can correct identity theft and fraud by adding digital identities that cannot be changed. For example, Estonia's e-Residency program is the first of its kind, a government-issued digital identity that allows entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world to operate and conduct business online in the EU.
Real Estate: Blockchain can simplify property transactions such as sales, leasing, and financing by reducing paperwork and improving transparency.
<a class="incut--wrap" style="transition-delay: 0s;" href="https://agilie.com/blog/the-evolution-of-blockchain-from-bitcoin-to-business-applications" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="incut"><img style="height: 344px; width: 778px;" src="https://d3pxw3l8cozu05.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1716280829344.png" width="100%" height="100%" />Learn more about the evolution of Blockchain from Bitcoin to business applications.</a>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth 2: Blockchain Transactions Are Always Anonymous</h2>
A frequent mistake people make about blockchain technology is that it is automatically anonymous to its users. However, the truth is more nuanced. Blockchain transactions are not strictly anonymous but pseudonymous.
Pseudonymity means that a user's identity is not directly tied to their blockchain transactions but rather to a digital pseudonym, typically a public key or a blockchain address. These addresses are like a sequence of letters and numbers, giving privacy but not total anonymity.
In contrast, anonymity would mean that the transactions are entirely disconnected from any identity, even a pseudonym, making them untraceable to the user. Blockchain does not usually provide this level of anonymity because the transaction history of each blockchain address is visible to anyone who accesses the blockchain.
Most blockchains are open ledgers, meaning that all transactions are visible to anyone who wishes to view them. This level of transparency ensures that while users' identities are not directly exposed, their transaction histories and patterns can be analyzed.<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 
<img src="https://d3pxw3l8cozu05.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1716280901953.png" />
While basic blockchain transactions offer pseudonymity, several enhancements and tools can increase privacy:
1. Mixing Services: Services like CoinJoin allow multiple users to combine their transactions into a single transaction with multiple inputs and outputs. This mixing blurs the traceability of any single coin, making it more difficult to link wallets with identities.
2. Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrencies: Some cryptocurrencies, like Monero and Zcash, are designed specifically to enhance privacy. Monero uses ring signatures and stealth addresses to hide the transactions&rsquo; origins, amounts, and destinations. Zcash allows users to shield transactions completely through its zk-SNARKs technology, which enables transactions to be verified without revealing the sender, receiver, or amount.
3. Use of Multiple Addresses: Users can increase their privacy by using multiple wallets or addresses, dispersing their transactions across several points, which makes it more challenging to link them to a single identity.
<a class="incut--wrap" style="transition-delay: 0s;" href="https://agilie.com/blog/blockchain-tech-trends-how-to-stay-ahead-of-the-curve" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="incut"><img style="height: 344px; width: 778px;" src="https://d3pxw3l8cozu05.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1716280997458.png" width="100%" height="100%" />Explore key blockchain technology trends and stay ahead in its innovation with insights and practical examples.</a>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth 3: Blockchains Are Unhackable</h2>
The idea that blockchains are completely unhackable is a frequently held misconception that can cause a dangerous level of complacency in security measures. While blockchain technology does offer robust security features, it is not immune to vulnerabilities. Knowing the security features employed and the situations in which breaches happen is very important for anyone who wants to use blockchain for their business.
Blockchain technology secures data through several mechanisms:
Cryptography: Every transaction on a blockchain is secured using cryptographic algorithms, which ensure that data can neither be altered nor read without the appropriate cryptographic key.
Decentralization: By distributing copies of the ledger across a network, blockchain reduces the risk of a single point of failure that could compromise the entire system.
Consensus Protocols: Blockchains use various consensus mechanisms, like Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS), to agree on the validity of transactions. These protocols prevent a malicious actor from changing even a single aspect of the blockchain.
<a class="incut--wrap" style="transition-delay: 0s;" href="https://agilie.com/expertise/fintech/blockchain-software" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="incut"><img style="height: 344px; width: 778px;" src="https://d3pxw3l8cozu05.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1716281102044.png" width="100%" height="100%" />Learn more about our blockchain software development services.</a>
Despite these security measures, there are scenarios where blockchains can and have been compromised.
<h3 dir="ltr">Scenarios Under Which Breaches Have Occurred</h3>
51% Attacks: This type of attack happens when a single entity gains control of more than 50% of the network&rsquo;s mining hash rate or stake, allowing them to manipulate transactions and potentially double-spend coins.&nbsp;
Code Vulnerabilities: <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/secure-smart-contract-design-best-practices-in-solidity-programming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smart contracts</a>, which are self-executing contracts with the terms directly written into code, can contain vulnerabilities. One of the most famous incidents is the DAO attack on the Ethereum network. Hackers exploited a vulnerability in the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) smart contract code to siphon off one-third of the DAO&rsquo;s funds.
Phishing and Social Engineering: End-user security is often the weakest link in a blockchain system. Phishing attacks can allow attackers access to blockchain assets, bypassing network security measures, to steal private keys or wallet credentials.
<img src="https://d3pxw3l8cozu05.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1716281254703.png" />
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">Conclusion</h2>
The blockchain technology is often seen as highly popular and muddled at the same time.&nbsp; Falsified myths are only part of the misconceptions that can mislead such a fantastic technology. Similarly, proper professional knowledge and strategy can help blockchain perform to its potential in various fields.&nbsp;<a href="https://agilie.com/blog/your-own-cryptocurrency-from-scratch-everything-you-need-to-know-to-create-your-cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building your own cryptocurrency</a> can be a strategic move for businesses seeking to innovate and tap into new digital markets.
At <a href="https://agilie.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agilie</a>, we understand that dealing with a complex environment is also a significant challenge. This is why we create powerful blockchain systems and wish to educate our clients regarding the breadth of blockchain-utilizing services. Therefore, such solutions can be tailored to your industry's concrete necessities and problems.
<a class="incut--wrap" style="transition-delay: 0s;" href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="incut"><img style="height: 344px; width: 778px;" src="https://d3pxw3l8cozu05.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1716281316627.png" width="100%" height="100%" />Contact us to find out how our blockchain development services can help you achieve your goal.</a>

Discover the truths about blockchain technology as we debunk common myths and clarify its applications to empower businesses with informed integration.

Discover the truths about blockchain technology as we debunk common myths and clarify its applications to empower businesses with informed integration.

Blockchain Myths Debunked: Separating Fact from Fiction

Read about the factors that influence accounting app development costs.

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Analyze the development process of the loan application.&nbsp;

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Explore successful real estate blockchain startups and the development process of blockchain property app.

Explore successful real estate blockchain startups and the development process of blockchain property app.