Let’s talk about apps. We haven’t reviewed a local mobile app for a while so perhaps this is as good of a time as any. As we know, a while ago BlueBird Group released its taxi-booking apps for BlackBerry, followed by Android and iOS. These apps make up the group’s strategy to cater for its highly mobile clientele and more importantly to take the load off of its already congested telephone booking system.

If you’ve tried booking for cabs in Jakarta over the phone, you’ll know how frustrating it can be in trying to get a call through. If a cab cant be dispatched in five minutes, usually the company will let you know by phone and this repeats every five minutes unless you tell them to forget about it. The app is currently still in beta and works only in Jakarta even though BlueBird Group operates in several different cities in the country. The company says that it will slowly roll out the service over the next year to other cities.

Using an app simplifies this process and makes it almost painless. While the app isn’t what you would call cutting edge or even aesthetically pleasing, it serves the basic purpose of getting a cab quickly.

In my 20 or so times getting a cab using the iPhone app, the response rate has been phenomenal. In residential areas, I’ve always gotten a dispatch within two minutes. The longest wait was 15 minutes and it happened only once.

BlueBird says to use the app in residential areas since the company prioritizes taxi ranks in commercial buildings such as offices, hotels, shopping centers and malls and it would be unfair to the cabs already in line. Unless of course there is none.

Using the app
When you first load the app, it will shove a massive terms and conditions page that you need to dismiss before proceeding to register to the system. It will require your name, date of birth and phone number. It also asks for your email but it’s not necessary. The app will require a phone number confirmation over SMS which means it probably wouldn’t work on an iPod touch or iPad. I haven’t tested if it’s possible to trick the app using a separate phone to receive the SMS and enter the confirmation code in the iPad or iPod touch.

If you have a preference for the type of cab you need, there’s an option to choose between the regular, executive, or premium taxis that BlueBird Group provides. Of course, each category carries its own fare classes.

The app lets you save multiple addresses for easy bookings and with the help of your phone’s GPS will assist the dispatched cab to accurately locate you. Once you make a booking, you will receive a booking confirmation notice and as soon as a cab is dispatched, it will tell you the cab’s number. You can track the cab’s location on a map although it doesn’t auto reload, you have to manually do it yourself to find out how near it is every few minutes.

Once you get in the cab, the app will thank you for using the service and it will move your order to the history tab. You can if you wish, delete the entire history of your bookings. You can cancel your order from the app by swiping it if you’re using the iPhone version.

Overall Impression
As far as getting a cab is concerned, I can’t be happier with the app but there’s a lot that can be improved. For example, it could have an option to track the cab automatically instead of through manual reloads. It could also implement a notification system to let you know that the cab has arrived because otherwise the driver will have to somehow find you and let you know.

At the moment the app doesn’t let you specify destination aside from the Soekarno Hatta Airport, which is a minor inconvenience although it probably wouldn’t really matter since the driver will take you to where you need to go anyway.

It could also get rid of the humongous and intimidating T&C screen at the front and relegate it to a link but it’s only a one time display at the start of the registration process. It would be nicer to have it hidden away though.

All in all, the app makes getting a cab in Jakarta so much easier, I wish all other cab companies here would have an app as well.

One last thing. For the past year or so BlueBird Group drivers have a reputation of not knowing where to go. A number of them seem to have been plucked from the boonies and planted in the big city and they have no idea how to get from one major landmark to another even if it’s on the same stretch of road (from Sahid Hotel to Grand Indonesia for example).

Fortunately, drivers who are on the dispatch system are the more senior ones and they are much more likely to know major landmarks, public venues, housing estates, and so on, which means the likelihood of them asking how to get you to Blok M for example, is close to zero.