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Expanding Access: Engineering Uber Lite

076ae80a-3c97-4 8y ago
It's nice to see app size and network speed talked about seriously. The size of some Android apps is astounding (looking at you Facebook) and the lack of consideration for those in rural areas when designing APIs can be remarkable.
- Gys 8y ago
  Facebook is clearly a very pragmatic company. If ppl do not complain, then why spend time optimizing the file size. Its a basic rule for startups as well: do not spend time or money on solving problems you do not (yet) have. I think only we developers are aware of this. Not the general public ?
  - gingerjoos 8y ago
    Facebook has a lite app as well (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.lite https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.l...)
  - mikeash 8y ago
    I think it’s particularly important for Uber because their typical first-time user has an immediate need and is away from home. If the app takes too long to download over cellular data or random airport WiFi then they’ve likely lost a customer to the competition.
- ummonk 8y ago
  Is Facebook Lite too big or slow as well for you?
gingerjoos 8y ago
Ola, their competitor in India, has a similar "lite" app as well[1]. In my experience, a better app. [1] https://developers.google.com/web/showcase/2017/ola https://developers.google.com/web/showcase/2017/ola
- saagarjha 8y ago
  This is a Progressive Web App, as opposed to the native one that Uber is using. Do you feel that this is the reason it’s better, or because you feel the Ola app does more, looks nicer, is smaller, etc?
gruez 8y ago
Looks the lite version is actually a native app, unlike other "lite" apps (eg. google maps go) which are just wrappers around a PWA. Nice to see they actually spent effort into making it as smooth as possible.
- PaulHoule 8y ago
  I love the fanatical approach to high speed over a bad network -- fitting messages into 1 MTU is a real protip. This article https://eng.uber.com/new-rider-app/ https://eng.uber.com/new-rider-app/ talks about their main app and the talk about architecture is fascinating because it has the "factory factory" that builds the app and then the part that interacts with the API is kept separated from the UI code. I keep converging on solutions like that whenever I write GUI code because otherwise you will lose control sooner or later.

It's nice to see app size and network speed talked about seriously. The size of some Android apps is astounding (looking at you Facebook) and the lack of consideration for those in rural areas when designing APIs can be remarkable.

Gys 8y ago
Facebook is clearly a very pragmatic company. If ppl do not complain, then why spend time optimizing the file size. Its a basic rule for startups as well: do not spend time or money on solving problems you do not (yet) have. I think only we developers are aware of this. Not the general public ?
- gingerjoos 8y ago
  Facebook has a lite app as well (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.lite https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.l...)
- mikeash 8y ago
  I think it’s particularly important for Uber because their typical first-time user has an immediate need and is away from home. If the app takes too long to download over cellular data or random airport WiFi then they’ve likely lost a customer to the competition.
ummonk 8y ago
Is Facebook Lite too big or slow as well for you?

gingerjoos 8y ago

Ola, their competitor in India, has a similar "lite" app as well[1]. In my experience, a better app. [1] https://developers.google.com/web/showcase/2017/ola https://developers.google.com/web/showcase/2017/ola

saagarjha 8y ago
This is a Progressive Web App, as opposed to the native one that Uber is using. Do you feel that this is the reason it’s better, or because you feel the Ola app does more, looks nicer, is smaller, etc?

gruez 8y ago

Looks the lite version is actually a native app, unlike other "lite" apps (eg. google maps go) which are just wrappers around a PWA. Nice to see they actually spent effort into making it as smooth as possible.

PaulHoule 8y ago
I love the fanatical approach to high speed over a bad network -- fitting messages into 1 MTU is a real protip. This article https://eng.uber.com/new-rider-app/ https://eng.uber.com/new-rider-app/ talks about their main app and the talk about architecture is fascinating because it has the "factory factory" that builds the app and then the part that interacts with the API is kept separated from the UI code. I keep converging on solutions like that whenever I write GUI code because otherwise you will lose control sooner or later.