96. Resident Exclusives- How To Use Uber

In this tech tutorial episode, Michael Lynn walks you through everything you need to know about using Uber. From downloading the app to booking your first ride, Michael covers it all in a clear and friendly way. He also shares pro tips for safety, setting up payment, and why linking your phone number can make your experience smoother.

What You’ll Learn:

• What Uber is and how it works
• How to download and install the Uber app on any device
• Step-by-step setup including sign-in options and verification
• Why linking your phone number is helpful
• How to add payment methods
• Booking a ride and choosing the right ride type (like UberX)
• Key safety tips—how to confirm your ride before getting in

Bonus:
Michael includes a helpful video demo to show what using Uber actually looks like.

Note: This episode focuses only on Uber, not Lyft or other rideshare apps, to keep things simple and clear.

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Transcript

Hi, my name is Michael Lynn. I am a resident technology assistant with Parasol Alliance and based out of Champaign, Illinois. And today I. We'll be talking about how to use Uber, how to get it set up and everything else that goes along with it. We won't be talking about any other ride sharing apps such as Lyft, mainly because they do have different setups, and I don't want anyone to get confused.

So we'll stay just on the topic of Uber. So to get started. What is Uber? Uber is a service that's [00:01:00] available on almost every mobile device that you might have. If it's an Android, an iPhone, uh, even like a jitter bug phone or anything like that, they'll all have Uber available on it. Um, the app is basically a taxi service.

You would be able to call for a ride. They'll pick you up, and they'll drop you off at that location. The average cost of an Uber is roughly 10 to $15 for a 10 to 15 minute ride, depending on the time of day. If it's, let's say very late at night, there might not be as many people available to drive you, so the cost will go up.

Vice versa. If there are a lot of drivers and it's in the middle of the day where a lot of drivers, but not a lot of people, you'll still be able to get that ride and it might even be cheaper than later in the day. Lyft does have a very similar experience and pricing. The only advantage Uber really has is that it's a little more [00:02:00] popular, so there tends to be more Uber drivers available to take you from place to place.

Now that we have a basic understanding of what Uber is, we'll get started with downloading the app and getting it on your phone. Depending on your device, you'll go to the app store. If you have an iPhone or the Google Play Store, if you have an Android phone, once you're in that corresponding store, you'll go over to the search bar and type in Uber.

Once it pops up, you'll either have to download, install, or get, just depends on the type of device you have. They all use different phrasings for it, but they all do the same thing. The only issue that some people run into is depending on your phone, it may ask you for a password to download that app.

That password is always linked with either your Apple id if you have an iPhone [00:03:00] or your Google account if you're using an Android. All depends on your device. Once you get that password in, if you need it, the app will be downloaded onto your phone and it should go onto the next available screen that allows apps on it.

If it's the first one, the second just depends on where it finds a spot for it. So once you find it, you have it downloaded, go ahead and click on it and we'll get started with setting up the app.

When you go on Uber for the very first time, they'll ask you to start with a couple different options. So you can either start with your phone number, if you have an iPhone, you can do it with your Apple id. You can go with Google or just a generic email as well. If you already have an account with them.

There's an option at the very bottom that says, find my account, and they'll be able to find it and get you signed into it. What I recommend among these options is to use your phone number mainly [00:04:00] because if, let's say you get an Uber, they're coming to pick you up, but maybe the location to pick you up at isn't the most obvious, or it's hard to get into one reason or the other.

You might need to contact them to tell them about it and say, you have to put in this code to get in a gate or. Drive around this part and you'll be able to pick me up. It'll all depend on those specific things if you do need to talk to them. But if you have your phone number linked with your Uber, they'll be able to give you a call if they get confused or anything else like that.

If you don't have your phone number on there, you still will be able to use Uber just the same as everybody else. And Uber does have a chat function in the app, so you don't have to have people call your direct number. You can talk through the Uber app to let somebody know. About your location, but once you get started, you'll choose one of these options and then we'll go ahead and move on to the next part.

Once you put in, let's say your phone number, your [00:05:00] email, for example, this picture here shows an email. You'll be able to get a code on your email and put it in the Uber app, so the email will just say. Thank you for signing up with Uber. Here's a code to put in the Uber app so you can continue signing in, signing up.

You'll put in that code and then you'll go onto the next part of the Uber setup.

It will then ask you for your name, first name, last name, and to accept the terms and agreements with Uber. All this is really asking is just, you know, you're at least 18 years old, you understand what's going on, that you're getting in a car. It's gonna drop you off from point A to point B, and a lot of other legal jargon that's in there.

Once you go ahead, put in that information, agree to it, you'll be able to move on to the next part of the Uber setup, and this will be the passkey on the right side here. [00:06:00] This isn't something that needs to be on your phone or needs to be in the Uber app, but it does help get back into it if you need to, and it does stop people from, let's say, going onto your phone and using the Uber app.

They'll have to get through this pass key first, and these pass keys can be diff a variety of things. You can use your face Id touch ID if you have it on your phone, or just a basic passcode. And again, this is all optional, so you don't even have to use it if you don't want to. But if you feel more comfortable, put in one of those options and every time you load up the Uber app, it'll ask you for that face Id, touch ID or passcode to get into it.

And to show you guys kind of what an Uber ride looks like. I won't be able to demonstrate it here, but I have put in a video that will show us how you can actually get in the Uber, how to identify it, how to use it, all that [00:07:00] information.

[00:08:00] [00:09:00] [00:10:00] [00:11:00] 

Alright, so a lot of things were covered in that video, but some of the key takeaways I wanted to mention again was making sure you add a payment method. Once that payment method is added, then you'll be able to use Uber. But if you don't have a payment method in there, they won't let you take any rides, get picked up.

Anything that you might wanna do, it won't work until you get [00:12:00] that payment method in. So make sure that's in there before you use the Uber. Another thing I wanted to mention was when you're booking the ride, they do have those various options of different Ubers, but like they were saying, Uber X is the one that is used the most.

And one more thing I wanted to mention when actually riding and getting in the Uber is to always make sure the make and model and the license plate number match up. Just like they say in the video, that's one way that you can confirm that this Uber is your Uber and then you're getting in the right car and you're not getting into someone else's car or a different Uber.

But that is it for the video. Thank you guys for watching and have a great day.

[00:13:00]