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Can I use Uber or Lyft using my iPad or other tablets?
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The Guru Take
Yes, you can. There's a caveat however.
Yes, you can absolutely use iPads or other tablets like Android to order Uber or Lyft. All you have to do is to download the rider apps on them, and use it like you would a iPhone/smartphone app. (You do need WiFi/Internet connection and preferably GPS.)
You can also potentially use the browser on your laptop, iPad or tablets. Uber and Lyft both support this feature now. (How to Request Uber or Lyft Without a Smartphone)
Here's the caveat: When you request a ride, the companies prefer that you can communicate with the drivers using the phone or through text messages. On a tablet, you most likely do not have that option. Hence, you may hit some frustrating situations if the driver tries to contact you (say, to find you).
There's some confusion on this topic, because Uber's site seems to suggest smartphones are required, most likely for the caveat given above. Uber's Help page: Use Uber without a smartphone
Comments
I own an Ipad 2 (about five years old) and a flip-phone. I can use the Uber app on my Ipad but the Lyft app refuses to download from the App store ("requires iOS 10 or later"). So, I CANNOT get Lyft on my iPad even though I prefer that service to Uber.
C'mon, Lyft, you should work to make your superior service universally available! Otherwise, you are just giving business away to Uber!
I think that Lyft is a more ethical company than Uber, so I'd use it if I could. Currently, not possible.
-- Ed Fischer
Philadelphia, PA
Apple has announced the hardware support list for iOS 10, the next version of its smartphone and tablet OS that will be released in beta form soon and in final form later this year. After a surprising stay of execution last year, it looks like Apple is set to stop providing updates for a fair handful of older devices: the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, the original iPad Mini, the 3rd-generation iPad, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch.
Here's the full list of supported hardware:
All the dropped devices have something in common: some version of the Apple A5 SoC. The A5 has been actively supported for longer than any of Apple's other chips to date; it was originally included in the iPad 2 in March of 2011, the last hardware launched by Steve Jobs before he passed away in October of that year. It later made its way into the iPhone 4S,…
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Apple has announced the hardware support list for iOS 10, the next version of its smartphone and tablet OS that will be released in beta form soon and in final form later this year. After a surprising stay of execution last year, it looks like Apple is set to stop providing updates for a fair handful of older devices: the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, the original iPad Mini, the 3rd-generation iPad, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch.
Here's the full list of supported hardware:
All the dropped devices have something in common: some version of the Apple A5 SoC. The A5 has been actively supported for longer than any of Apple's other chips to date; it was originally included in the iPad 2 in March of 2011, the last hardware launched by Steve Jobs before he passed away in October of that year. It later made its way into the iPhone 4S, and it was added to the fifth-generation iPod Touch and the iPad Mini in 2012. The first Retina iPad used a faster A5X variant, and the the third-generation Apple TV used a version with a single CPU core (Apple dropped support for that Apple TV box last year).
Recent iOS updates have made the A5 feel its age and there was a substantial number of features in iOS 7, 8, and 9 that these gadgets couldn't handle, but that's an unheard of level of support in the fast-moving mobile industry no matter what platform you're talking about.
The Apple A6 family in the iPhone 5 and 5C and iPad 4 are the last supported 32-bit SoCs in the iPhone and iPad ecosystem. Presumably iOS 11 will be the first to be all-64-bit across all hardware and devices.
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This answer is, unfortunately, uninformed. Apple stopped updating the OS on iPad 2's with iOS version 9.3.5. Because Lyft's app won't install on iPads with the older iOS, there is no way to use Lyft on an iPad 2.
-- Ed Fischer
Philadelphia, PA
I am one of those people who refuse to update the iOS in fear it'll slow down the iPhone. I got a iPhone 6 on iOS 9 and Lyft works fine. Is your iPad on a iOS before 9?
I'm starting to get left behind with 9. Slowly more and more apps cease to work...
The fact you cannot contact the riders as easily is a deal killer. save it for the GPS.
Do people really have an iPad but not an iPhone?
I have iPad mounted on the dash for GPS purposes. For safety, I try to keep my iPhone in my pocket. So.it'd be nice to use Uber on the iPad, right?
There's a reason people ask these questions. Stop assuming