Technologies

Check Out What’s New in Uber’s Redesigned App

Uber users should also expect the app to be updated more in the coming months.

Your Uber app might look a little different the next time you use it. Uber added some new features and redesigned its app on Feb. 22. Uber’s goal of the redesign and new features is to make the app more convenient and easier to use.

The company also said the redesign is the first in a series of updates users will receive over the next few months.

Here’s what’s new in Uber’s app.

New homescreen

A new, simplified homescreen shows you two options near the top of your screen — rides and delivery for things like UberEats. The old version of the app showed you eight options near the top of the screen for things like ride, transit and rent.

Uber's redesigned homescreen showing Rides and Delivery near the top of the screen — Uber’s new redesigned homescreen.

Uber

There are also new tabs near the bottom of your screen called Services and Activity. The Services tab shows you all the services available near you, from e-scooters to cocktails and flowers. The Activity tab shows you all your past and upcoming deliveries and other services. Think of it as your order history.

More personalized options

If you normally take an Uber from work to your house, or you only use Uber Green, the app will now make it easier to select these options.

When you tap «Where to?» the Uber app will bring up your «Saved Places» for quicker access, and it will show you destinations and ride types based on your past trips.

The app will also show you recommendations on the homescreen based on your past trips. If you usually reserve your rides in advance, for example, the app will show you other planned options.

New ride tracking on iPhone

Uber Live Activities on a locked iPhone screen. — iPhone users can track their Uber ride right from their Lock Screen.

Uber

For iPhone users, the Uber app is also easier to keep track of. The app now supports Live Activities so that people who have iOS 16 or later can keep track of their ride right from the Lock Screen.

Uber’s app is also taking advantage of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max’s Dynamic Island. When these iPhone 14 models are unlocked, the Dynamic Island will show you the progress of your Uber so you don’t have to switch back and forth between apps.

To access these new features, make sure your Uber app is updated. Uber will release updates for the app in the coming months, so make sure you check back for the latest features.

For more, check out Uber’s latest safety updates, when Uber’s New York City fleet will have to convert to EVs and when Uber Eats will start using robots for food delivery.

Technologies

AT&T Says It’s Pumping $250 Billion Into New Infrastructure Improvements

Technologies

Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.