Uber will now let you request rides for any of your contacts

Uber has now made it possible for you to request a ride from your smartphone, but for someone else in your phone book. To request a ride for somebody else, you need to set the pick up location away from where you happen to be.

• What is Uber and how does it work?

Uber will then realise the ride is for somebody else and automatically ask you if the ride is for a friend or family member. Simply select the person the ride is for from your phone book, set the destination and you’re, or rather they’re, away.

You can invite and add members to business and family profiles, to make it easier to easily select a contact to pay for a ride for them.

Your contact will receive a text message from the Uber driver to let them know the ride is on its way, and your contact can even phone the driver if they need to. Your friend or family member doesn’t need to have a smartphone either, just as long as they have a phone that can receive text messages they’ll be fine.

• Uber plans to demo its fleet of electric flying cabs in 2020

If they do have a smartphone though, a link included in the text message will let your friend or family member track the driver’s route. The new feature is rolling out now to 30 countries worldwide, although the ride-hailing service hasn’t confirmed which countries they are.