How to Develop an eScooter App like Bird?

eScooter app development creating a buzz in the industry. 

Do you know why?

Bird was launched in 2017 (just 5 years ago). The company started providing shared e-scooters for local commuting.  And today, this business concept has emerged as one of the most sustainable business choices. 

A person anywhere in Santa Monica who needs to go to a particular destination simply needs to use the company’s e-scooter mobile app. The app allows users to find and rent nearby e-scooters (known as Birds) to their location. 

The Bird gave a boost to the e-scooter business and has started a new trend. Escooter companies like Lime, Spin, Skip, Goat, Wind Mobility, Scoot are now entering this area and increasing the riding share economy.

As per the latest report released by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), there were 86 million trips were taken by Americans in 2019. It was almost 2/3 of the 136 million micromobility trips overall- with 133% growth in rides.

Amazing isn’t it?

So if you have an electric scooter business or are willing to start this startup, developing an eScooter application can help you grow your e-scooter business rapidly. And this blog will guide you on how to develop an e-scooter app like Bird that helps you grow faster.

So let’s start riding. 

What is Bird? 

Bird is an e-scooter company based in California, USA. The company offers rent base electric scooters in more than 100 cities. Bird is the most popular mircomobility company which has the maximum users. 

What is an e-scooter app?

An e-scooter app is basically an on-demand mobile app that allows users to find electric scooters nearby their locations and easily rent or hail for ride. Escooter app development requires similar technologies that are generally used in food delivery or on-demand cab booking apps. But it has a slight difference. Here, only one side needs to locate a particular object. 

Popular e-scooter apps in 2022

• Bird
• Lime
• Spin
• Goat
• Skip
• Scoot
• Wind Mobility

Current eScooter Market Trends and Statistics

e-scooter based businesses like Bird, Lime are doing great in this sector. The best part of this business is that it is in the growing stage and doesn’t have a high level of competition. The trend of e-scooter startups is evolving. Bird is the top name in the e-scooter business. However, there are many emerging companies that are also providing micromobility solutions to urban people. 

See the below report of Forbes

The popularity of e-scooter business is not only gaining in USA, but also in Europe, Middle East. In Europe itself, five e-scooter startups have recently emerged and acquired more than 150 USD of capital as of now. If you see the report from NACTO, the number of electric scooters has increased significantly in the past few years. Escooter riding has around 45 percent in the market. 

As per the Grand View Research Inc. report, the eScooter market is projected to reach $41.98 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 8.5%. ASIA Pacific region is expected to grow quickly in the upcoming years with a $26.25 billion market size. 

What Features Made Bird eScooter App Hit in the Market?

Escooter app is basically an on-demand mobile application. Here, the product is electric scooter. So the purpose of e-scooter app development is to provide features that enable people to easily find and rent e-scooters nearby their location.

And that is why the Bird app got successful in the market. Their mobile app allows users to locate nearby available spots for renting electric scooters. They can simply rent or hail an electric scooter from Bird’s mobile app. So to create an app like Bird, make sure your app must have the following features. 

1. Onboarding
2. Smart lock
3. Social media integration
4. Multi-Lingual Support
5. Payment gateway
6. QR code scanning ability
7. GPS Tracking 
8. MAP
9. Push notifications
10. Cross-platform ability

Before we discuss how to create an e-scooter app like Bird, let us understand 

How does e-scooter mobile app work?

The functioning of a mobile app depends on its business model. In the e-scooter business, the users need features to locate nearby spots for renting the scooter rides. The process primarily starts from searching the nearby available e-scooter and helping users reach the spot with MAP routing. 

Once the user reaches the destination, the rider needs to scan the QR code by the app to unlock the ride and start ringing. And finally, when the ride finishes, the app allows riders to end the trip and make payment digitally. 

How to Create an electric scooter app like Bird?

Step 1: Research Audience for Your App

Escooter business has a certain range of audience. Your audience might be one who would be looking for booking cab, bike or small public transport to travel at local places. Here, you need to identify how your services will help them reach their destination better and faster than other ride-hailing options. Today, there are various on-demand apps that offer public transportation services. Hence, you should define who is your audience specifically and how your escooter app will provide them fast and easy ride services based on their location.

Step 2: Design the App Architecture

Mobile app architecture is basically a set of rules and techniques that create an outline of mobile application development. These rules allow e-scooter app developers to build an app that successfully meets customers’ requirements. This architecture should be designed as per your business model and contains all the required features. There are mainly three layers in mobile app architecture. 

1. Business layer- This layer deals with logic and rules responsible for information exchange and workflow regulation. 
2. Presentation layer- It includes UI/UX design & development. It consists of all processes and components to create a mobile app. 
3. Data layer- The layer contain the architecting of data accessibility and its management. 

So, while designing the app architecture for your e-scooter business, make sure it has all the essential functionality for your business processes. 

Step 3: UI/UX Design

Once, you have developed the outline of app architecture, time to give it a real shape. UI/UX design includes the process of how users interact with your app. The more it is simple and faster, the more users will love using your app. Therefore, you should design a responsive mobile app that has simple navigation. 

Kepp in mind that e-scooter app is a type of on-demand mobile app. It will need additional technologies like GPS support, location tracking, mobile payment. Thus, your mobile app design should provide a smooth app usage experience with better security features. 

Step 4: Decide the feature for Your e-scooter mobile app

Escooter mobile apps require the same technologies of on-demand app development. But it has some unique features. In most e-scooter mobile apps, some features are common. Features of an e-scooter app basically categorized on two sides.

1. User Side features

• Profile Creation
• In-app payment facility
• Location tracking
• Push notification
• QR code scanning

2. Admin Side Features (App Owner)

• User management
• Ride management for both starting and ending
• Payment management
• GPS tracking
• Dashboard

Whether is Bird or Lime, you should check what features they are using currently and how these features are helping users to find the riding spot. Below you can find the key features of popular e-scooter apps. 

Bird

• Mobile payment gateway
• Smart app lock
• Real-time GPS Tracking
• MAP Routing 
• QR Code scanning

Lime

• QR code scanning
• GPS Tracking
• Social media integration
• Secure digital payment

Spin

• MAP API to locate the nearby electric scooter
• Personal ID to unlock the ride

Skip

• Use the app with social media profiles
• QR code scanning

Step 5: Choose the Technology Stack for eScooter app development

The selection  of the best tech stack requires sound understanding of technologies and its technical usability. When you hire a mobile app development company, make sure they choose the best technology stack for the app development. 

You should consider which type of mobile app you are going to build. Whether it is a hybrid, native, or cross-platform app. If you are developing for iOS users only, the tech stack consists of dedicated tools and SDK for iOS app development. For custom e-scooter app development, look for robust technologies that allow creating dynamic functionality for the app. 

Here is the tech stack for developing an app like Bird

UX/UI tools

• Adobe XD
• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• InVision
• Zeplin
• Sketch 
• Figma
• After Effects 
• Sketch

Development Frameworks

• Swift
• Xcode
• Cocoapod
• XML
• Android Studio
• Andorid SDK
• Kotlin
• BLE
• AWS Lambda
• Visual Studio Code
• NodeJs
• TCP/IP Protocol

Step 6: Develop and Deploy

Start developing your e-scooter app and create an MVP. Once you build the full-fledged app, put it through multiple rounds of app testing. Then get the final nod from your QA team. Make sure your app performs well on all criteria as per your checklist. And now you are ready to launch your e-scooter app. 

How Much Does it Cost to Create an e-Scooter app like Bird?

The cost of e-scooter app development depends on how much developing time does it take. However, it generally needs between 800-1000 hours of development. Depending on the per-hour rate, you can calculate the final cost of e-scooter app development. 

So developing an e-scooter app like Bird will cost you around $50,000-$70,000. Here at MobileCoderz, we charge $25 per hour for developing a mobile app for the electric scooter business. 

The Bottom Line

The electric scooter business is trending. It is one of those industries which has the lowest level of competition. There are only specific numbers of companies that are operating in e-scooter ride services. And the best part of this business is, there are many countries which don’t have such services at their place. Their citizens are still waiting for such micromobility solution that easily allows them for commuting to local places. So starting electric scooter business is surely a great decision. And if you have such a vision, partner with MobileCoderz. 

We have the industry’s best Android app developers, software engineers, and programmers who hold wide expertise in e-scooter app development. Our big team has bigger solutions that can empower you to grow your business quickly like Bird. 

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