Uber And Snapchat Form Alliance To Offer Exclusive Content Services

In a rather unusual turn of events, cab hailing company Uber and social media platform Snapchat are forming an alliance. Through this partnership, Snapchat will be offering certain services on its app that will only be available when riding Uber cabs.

The Verge managed to get an exclusive look into what the new arrangement will involve, which happens to include the appearance of new filters while riding in an Uber cab. This feature is directly tied to the newly redesigned Uber app that the company released last month, which made for a cleaner, more streamlined look.

Once the users are inside the cab, they will automatically get a new option to get some new Snapchat filters by opening Uber’s app. Users only need to look at the “feed” interface and the filters will be unlocked.

These filters will then be used to do things like inform friends that the user is on their way, along with other details like send estimated time of arrival. This is for the standard Uber filter, which everyone will be getting and will have the same function for all users. Just to make things more interesting, though, Snapchat also has a mystery filter, which could offer a unique sticker for passengers.

Another potentially useful function of the new features is being able to sync up with friends on the fly instead of having a pre-determined destination, Venture Beat reports. For example, if a user gets into an Uber car and wants to meet with a particular friend, accessing the app can allow the users to ask said friend about their location.

The process involves a giving Uber permission to access certain information on the user’s phone as well as that of the user’s friend. Once that’s done, the app will know where the friend is located, calculate how much time it will take to get there, and then send the Snapchat filter to said friend, telling them the estimated time of arrival.