The Reason Why Uber Drivers Use Two Phones

These days, many people use their phones while driving. No, most don't text and drive; that would be stupid. Instead, drivers often use their phones for GPS directions that help save time and gas (one of the ways GPS tech is helping save the environment). If you step into a rideshare, you've probably noticed your Uber driver uses Google Maps instead of Uber's own navigation. You've also probably noticed many often use two phones at once, and the reasons vary based on personal preferences.

Let's start with the Occam's razor answer: Some drivers use one phone for personal use and the other for their work. While the "main" phone is reserved for rideshare apps to scout for and accept ride requests, the personal one is freed up for entertainment and texting — especially during downtime. Drivers don't need to do this, but you'd be surprised how many rides you can accidentally accept while you're just texting with friends or playing games to decompress.

Car system compatibility is another complaint among Uber and other rideshare drivers — and a catalyst for using two phones. In the past, the Uber app didn't cooperate with CarPlay, so even if a driver used the system for music and maps, they couldn't accept or decline rides through the car's infotainment screen. And even when the app received integration, the interface was reportedly unwieldy, so using two phones just made more sense and eventually became second nature.

As we just went over, many Uber drivers use two phones for technical reasons. If a phone is connected to a car via USB to play music through its speakers, rideshare apps don't always work right, especially when autoplay is active. And wireless connections aren't always an option. Even though wireless Apple CarPlay is now reliable, the feature isn't available in every car. However, some Uber drivers purportedly use multiple phones to maximize their profits.

Plenty of drivers (allegedly) have multiple phones in their rideshare cars in order to have multiple accounts running, one tied to each phone. Officially, Uber documentation states it is against the company's rules to have more than one Uber app. Some people claim otherwise; a single driver can hypothetically have multiple accounts if each is tied to a separate phone number. But there's another possibility: A driver runs Uber on one phone and Lyft (or another service) on the other. Users don't have to constantly flip between apps on a single screen to see which has the best offerings. Everything is constantly displayed on two screens so drivers can not only quickly compare potential drives but also keep an eye on ride requests as they come in. Time spent in the Uber app means potentially missing a particularly profitable Lyft drive and vice versa.

At the end of the day, no two Uber drivers who use more than one phone have the same rationale. Maybe the app doesn't cooperate with their car, or maybe they want to run multiple apps at once without worrying about battery drain. Or maybe they want to game the system for a bit of extra cash. Nothing wrong with that in a gig economy.