Apps
Five Uber app alternatives for your daily commute

Uber users in the Philippines woke up today to an alternate reality in which their favorite ride-sharing service no longer existed. While the service is recovering as the story develops, those who rely on Uber for their daily commute are forced to look into other alternatives to get from one point to another.
Here are five alternative choices that you can check out:
Angkas
While four-wheeled cars get stuck in Manila’s terrible traffic situation, motorcycles swoosh their way through it. That’s the advantage of Angkas, a ride-sharing booking app for motorcycles, more locally known as habal-habal. Riding a motorcycle on a highway might be scary for some, though.
Grab
Grab is the closest competitor of Uber in Southeast Asia with its GrabCar services. It gained its popularity in the Philippines by being the first to offer a cash payment option, thus making it friendlier for those who don’t have credit cards. Grab also has a network of regular taxis that you can book as an option — just in case.
MiCab
MiCab is relatively new in Metro Manila, but it’s already operating in Cebu and Iloilo City. The service is similar to GrabTaxi wherein you book a regular cab on your phone. With its growing ties with existing taxi fleets, MiCab could address the plight of taxi drivers facing tough competition.
Wunder
Wunder fulfills the main purpose ride-sharing apps, and that’s carpooling. If you want to share a ride to work and/or back home, you can find a listing of available carpoolers in your area that are on the same route. You’ll also gain new connections and friends in the long run. The downside is that the drivers are not available 24/7.
Sakay.ph
If it gets really tough to book a ride on your phone, you can always take the usual public transportation modes like jeepneys, buses, and trains. Fret not! There’s also an app to help you take the correct route to your destination.
Not necessarily a booking service, but Sakay.ph is a great companion to help you get around the city without the need to constantly ask around. Metro Manila — despite being the great capital of the country — doesn’t have a well-structured transport system, so it’s always logical to check out your route and stops first. The app shows you how much it’ll cost and how long your commute will take.
SEE ALSO: Uber suspended in the Philippines for a month
[irp posts=”18097″ name=”Uber suspended in the Philippines for a month”]


Grab Philippines and GCash have finally struck a partnership deal that will make payments on the superapp even easier and more convenient.
Starting February, users will be able to add GCash as a direct payment method on the Grab app, making cashless transactions on food and grocery deliveries, car transport, and other services cashless.
Prior to the collaboration, GCash users could only send money from their account to their GrabPay wallet, and vice-versa, causing a bit of hassle switching in between apps on one’s phone screen.
The partnership also means there will be no more transaction fees unlike before when Grab users have to cash in using their credit or debit cards or linked bank accounts.
Grab customers may also avail of GCash exclusive deals, and even get treats when they pay using the e-wallet.

The days of a completely free Twitter are over. Back in 2021, the platform introduced Twitter Blue, a premium subscription service to introduce more features for paying users. Last year, new owner Elon Musk revamped the subscription and made the paid features more exclusive. Musk is not done. A future update will likely add a tier to eliminate all ads on the platform.
Ads and sponsored posts are persistent problems for all social media platforms as of late. Though already asking users to pay, Twitter Blue only cuts down ads for paying users by only half. As the company tries to get sponsors back on the platform, wading through a sea of ads will likely continue.
Musk, however, realizes the problem and is now dangling a carrot at those who want to get rid of ads for good. As a way to curb them, the platform’s owner teased an upcoming higher-priced subscription tier which will allegedly block out all ads.
Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks.
— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) January 21, 2023
The billionaire has not announced how much a tier might cost. Currently, the regular Twitter Blue subscription already costs US$ 8 per month. Additionally, he has not revealed if there are more plans on the docket for curbing ads.
Since acquiring the company late last year, Musk has introduced a lot of changes to the platform, often to controversial appeal. Cutting down on ads is certainly a welcome change but only depending on how much it will ask from users.

An unread notification triggers our inner FOMO. Once you see that red ping or that card, it’s almost impossible to ignore. Some users, to replace a traditional notepad, even message themselves on messaging apps to act as an impromptu bulletin board. Now, joining in the list of apps that allow users to do that, WhatsApp is letting users talk to themselves on the app.
Available today, WhatsApp has introduced a feature allowing users to message themselves from the list of contacts on the app. As with any other message, users can mark their conversation as unread and pin it on top of every other thread.
Compared to other developments from WhatsApp as of late, a conversation with yourself isn’t as groundbreaking, especially since other apps already offer the same function. However, the new feature does open a lot of possibilities for users.
Besides the aforementioned self-pinging system, users can also have a notepad that essentially migrates from device to device. As long as you have a WhatsApp account logged on in every device you can take with you, you can read your notes everywhere and on any device.
WhatsApp isn’t the only app to offer such a feature. Users can also do the same on Meta’s other apps including Messenger and Instagram’s private messaging feature.
SEE ALSO: WhatsApp has launched Communities
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