Real-time order tracking: the technology behind the map

What you see, and what runs underneath

The dot moving across the map while your order approaches looks simple. It is the result of three separate systems, and the hard one is not the one you would guess.

1. Position

The rider's phone sends its position at intervals, more often while moving, less often while stopped. That distinction is what makes it possible to follow a trip without flattening the battery in 2 hours.

2. The route

A position on its own says nothing. It has to be attached to a road, otherwise the dot jumps from one side of the street to the other with every update. That is map matching, and it is what makes movement readable instead of jittery.

3. The estimate

This is the hard part, and the part everyone judges. The time shown depends on distance remaining, actual speed over the last few minutes, and the hour of the day. An optimistic estimate is worse than a cautious one: the customer remembers it and counts from it.

What we do not do

We do not track riders outside their trips. The app stops sending position the moment the last order is handed over, and there is no screen anywhere in our systems showing where someone is when they are off duty.

When the network drops

The dot stops, and the screen says so instead of animating an invented position. Positions recorded offline are sent when the network returns and the map catches up at once. It is less pretty than a dot gliding continuously, and it is true.