Uber and Uber Eats have announced the rollout of a new feature that allows users to track the activity of their rideshare or food order on their iPhones without getting a ton of notifications.
Today, the company rolled out an update to both apps that enabled Live Activities, the new feature on iOS 16 that allows users to track things in real time using a continuously updated widget on their Lock Screen. Now, instead of getting a ton of push notifications, users can reference the widget to track their approaching car or food delivery order.
The feature was rumored to be rolling out for both apps earlier this week, so that rumor seems to have panned out quite quickly.
Live Activities gets a boost on the iPhone 14 Pro
Apple introduced Live Activities at WWDC 2022 back in June. The feature, as the company explains it, “helps users stay on top of things that are happening in real time, such as a sports game, workout, ride-share, or food delivery order, right from the Lock Screen.”
The company has previewed a number of apps taking advantage of the feature including Uber, Nike Run Club, and sports through the TV app. There are a number of situations where tracking things in real-time is helpful but historically the only way to do it was to get a ton of push notifications. While it was technically effective, getting notification after notification wasn’t an efficient way to alert users of updates.
Live Activities is looking to offer a better solution to that problem. With the feature, users will be able to track updates in real-time using one continuously updated at the bottom of the Lock Screen.
For users with an iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Live Activities will also show up in the Dynamic Island. So those lucky iPhone owners will be able to track their 3:00 AM McDonald’s order in two places.