Everyone's encountered a chatty Uber driver at least once in their life. Those rides where you just want peace and quiet to reflect and your driver bombards you with endless questions or even worse, they unload on you about something leaving you unsure how to respond. Well, the number of users that have taken the time to let the rideshare app know how frustrating this can be have won since Uber has announced Quiet Mode.
The new feature, that is only available in America and for Uber Black and Uber Black SUV premium, gives passengers the opportunity to choose from “Quiet preferred,” “happy to chat” or “No preference,” Tech Crunch details. The fact that Uber has only made the feature availbe for the more expensive rides is a smart move on their part since it will entice many to choose the more premium offering.
“We’re looking to create more differentiation between the premium products and the regular products to encourage more trips,” Uber product manager Aydin Ghajar told the publication. However, the drivers don't necessarily have to abide by the requests but they do need to understand that it may affect their rating. “It’s not mandatory. The driver is an independent contractor. We’re just communicating the rider’s preference. The driver can have that information and do with it what they want.”