[corin_]

Wouldn't it be significantly less than a MB for all the info about "how does Uber work at this airport" info to come in json or whatever? It could surely survive without downloading special airport-specific media like logos, do the airport rules require complicated heavy code on the phone?

Thinking of my experience with Uber at airports, it's generally stuff like "pickups from this terminal are only available at the west exit" (show on map - so needs coordinates and message text), or "There is a £10 airport pickup fee for all private hire vehicles here which will be added to your bill", or whatever along those lines.

But perhaps your point still stands even if it's KBs rather than MBs.

[bhupy]

It’s also the airport layout information, including doors. From most US airports, you specify your pickup point by door (Arrival E6, for example), and I think some of that information lives in the app, along with the snap points that are rendered on the map (or even just the logic). There’s usually also a specific UX when requesting the ride where it asks you to select your airline to guess which terminal and egress to set as the pick up point.

[corin_]

Why would airport layout data not be handled the same way as city layouts? Maybe effectively automatically caching airports to make up for potential bandwidth issues?

And for the specific UX, sure but isn't that just a single feature for airports in general, and the app can pull the up to date airlines/terminals data for the specific airport when needed?

[manigandham]

True, the rules data is small, which is why there's no point in not bundling it in the first place. Better to have an instant and smooth experience rather than try to save a few MBs by introducing a blocking network call before you can even interact with the app.