BlueBird Group's Mobile Apps Now Let You Make Advance Taxi Bookings

Over a week ago BlueBird Group released an update to its mobile apps with a collection of new features that makes ordering a cab in Jakarta far more convenient. At that time the BlackBerry and Android apps were updated while the update for the iOS version was released on Tuesday. The app now lets you book a taxi ahead of time, call the driver, and to find out whether there's a service disruption through a direct link to its own Twitter account. A small number of interface elements had been tweaked as well.

A few months ago we reviewed the app, which at that time was launched with a limited core set of features and works only in Jakarta. While this update brings a number of improvements, the service remains limited to Jakarta even though the company's taxi service is available across a number of cities in the country.

The biggest update to this app is the ability to book cabs ahead of time. Until now, booking cabs using the app can only be done when you're ready to leave as the app hadn't been able to register advance bookings until this update. BlueBird and Seatech Mobile, the app's developer, have finally managed to introduce this feature into the app.

Advanced booking can be made not just several hours ahead but even several days before the intended time of departure. The booking however will not be dispatched to the drivers until 30 minutes before departure, which makes sense. The cabs tend to take 15-20 minutes to reach the pickup point anyway after a dispatch is received.

The option to cancel a cab has been slightly changed. In the previous version, swiping an order prompts a screen to cancel the booking but now the red button that appears says Option instead of Cancel. Tapping that button brings up another red button to cancel. This feels redundant unless it's meant to be expanded in future versions to include other options as well.

Tapping the order brings up the now familiar detail screen which shows the map to display the position of the cab when the dispatch has been received. This screen now has two buttons below the map. One to cancel the order and another to call the driver.

We hadn't tried calling the driver after a booking had been made, but presumably this is so customers won't need to contact the call center when a cab takes too long to reach the pick up point. After all, the entire point of this app is to reduce the load of the call center.

The app now has a service status menu in the More section. This takes you to the Twitter account for the app that lets you know what is happening with regards to the app and the booking system. While this makes it more convenient, you can always check the account through the web or any Twitter application. The account is @bbg_appstatus. Customer service queries and feedback about the app can be directed through the Feedback menu within the app.

While the app is very convenient to use, lately an order might take more than 15 minutes to be dispatched, and sometimes it never gets picked up by any cab. BlueBird's booking system dispatches an order every five minutes. If the order hadn't been picked up in five minutes, the system would resend the order, and this gets repeated until a driver responds to it. The app now tells you how many times the order has been dispatched.

While this is handy to know, it doesn't actually help you get a cab any sooner. Sometimes though, canceling an order and making a new one would work and you would get a cab within a few short minutes. Of course, who's to say that had you waited a few minutes longer, the same cab would respond to the dispatch?

Check out screenshots of the updated version of the app on our Tumblr.