For our last week, focused on improving session persistence and preparing GusLift for broader platform support. This week, we continued improving the core ride-sharing experience by working on notifications, routing, schedule management, ride matching, and user interface consistency.

Improving Push Notifications

One major focus this week was improving push notification support.

Push notifications are important for a ride-sharing app because riders and drivers need to receive updates quickly. For example, a rider should know when a driver responds to a ride request, and a driver should know when there is activity related to a potential ride.

To support this, the app was configured to work with Expo notifications and Firebase notification services for Android.

On the backend, notification token handling was added so the app can store device push tokens. This allows the system to know where notifications should be sent when ride or matching events happen.

The matching worker was also updated to support push notification behavior, helping connect real-time ride matching events with user-facing alerts.

Why Notifications Matter

Without notifications, users would need to constantly keep checking the app for updates.

That would make the ride experience slower and less reliable.

By adding notification support, GusLift can begin moving toward a more real-time experience where users are alerted when something important happens.

This is important for matching riders and drivers, since timing matters when coordinating rides.

Improving Routing and Login Flow

Another major area of work was improving how users move through the app after logging in.

Several routing fixes were made so riders and drivers land on the correct screens based on their role and setup status.

For riders, the app was updated so they consistently land on RiderHome instead of being sent to the older RequestRide screen. Older entry points to the previous request screen were removed or redirected.

A new route helper was also added to centralize user routing logic. This makes the app easier to maintain because routing decisions are handled in one place instead of being scattered across multiple screens.

Improving Ride Matching Visibility

This week also included improvements to the ride matching experience.

The app now shows pending driver matches more clearly on rider home and scheduled rides screens. This helps riders understand when a match is waiting for action instead of hiding it deeper in the app.

There were also fixes to prevent drivers from re-selecting riders who already rejected them.This makes the matching process feel more logical and prevents confusing repeat interactions between riders and drivers.

Updating Schedule Management

Schedule management was another important improvement.

The older change-schedule flow was replaced with a cleaner view and edit schedule experience. This gives both riders and drivers a better way to manage their availability and planned rides.

The schedule screens were also connected more cleanly from the rider and driver home pages.

This matters because scheduling is one of the core features of GusLift. Riders need to plan rides, and drivers need to manage when they are available.

Improving Time Display and Ride History

Many commits focused on fixing time display issues.

Waiting room times, manual ride times, and ride history display were updated so users see more accurate and consistent information.

This is especially important for a ride-sharing app because incorrect time information can quickly make the experience confusing.

Ride history was also improved so past ride information displays more reliably for users.

User Interface Improvements

We also made a lot of visual and layout improvements.

Rider screens were restyled for better color and layout consistency. Home screens and waiting room screens were updated to better match the app’s brand palette.

Quick-action buttons were added to rider and driver hero cards, and a new logo was added to the homepage.

These changes help the app feel more polished and easier to navigate.

Before deployment, we plan on:

Testing push notifications across more devices

Improving the full rider-driver matching flow

In app chat functionality

Connecting payment status more closely with ride status

Continuing to clean up time and schedule logic

Improving reliability of ride history and scheduled ride screens