Student Uses Uber API to Create an App That Helps Travelers Explore Cities

A few weeks ago, Uber hosted its second onsite hackathon with MakerSquare at the MakerSquare campus in San Francisco. The competition challenged students and alumni to build an app using the Uber API within 24 hours.

At the end of the competition, Justin Charlap (Product Management Lead at Microsoft), Kyle Simpson (AKA Getify and Head of Curriculum at MakerSquare), members of the Uber API team, and several MakerSquare staff judged each project. As usual, each project was judged on design, originality, effective use of the API, impact, and utility.

CREATING THE PERFECT APP TO HOP! AROUND THE CITY

The competition was fierce and every team did a phenomenal job creating apps that integrated the Uber API. However, at the end of the challenge, a solo developer — Stephen Tu — took home the grand prize. Stephen created an app called Hop!, which helps users plan and explore different things to do in a city. With Hop!, users simply select their city of interest, and the app automatically generates popular activities, landmarks, and restaurants around the area.

Once the user selects all the places that he or she is interested in, an itinerary is automatically created for the user. The user can then choose his or her preferred mode of transportation, with Uber being the default option. If the location is close enough, the user can even let the app know that he or she is willing to walk and the route will automatically adjust.

With every hackathon we host, we discover a little bit more about our API and the developers who use it. Our team is committed on making the API the best in its class and will continue to innovate to do so. That said, we look forward to future hackathons and hope to see you there!

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