# But what does "offline" mean?



## suberx

I am pretty new to this gig and have been reading all of the "tips for beginners". This board and it's members are awesome in the way they are willing to help out fellow drivers.

I am confused by the surge advice of "staying off line" until you are in the surge area. I assume this means to open the app but don't go online. But, isn't Uber is tracking drivers as soon as the app is open, whether they are "online" or not? Why wouldn't they? So are people logging out of the app completely and then reopening the app? Or, am I just being too paranoid?


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## TedInTampa

Just be offline. You don't need to close it. Before I knew that trick, I would often drive into the surge, and I was part of what caused it to dissipate as I arrived. Now, I often ignore light surges, then see them fade before I could have gotten there.

If you get near or inside, then come online, you may get a surge ping. Check the listed surge rating, then accept.


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## Shangsta

Drivers online in a surge area cause it to die. Let it build while you are offline then go online and get a ride


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## suberx

Shangsta said:


> Drivers online in a surge area cause it to die. Let it build while you are offline then go online and get a ride


This advice is based on a bit too rosey of a view about Uber and how they will manipulate drivers and passengers in order to make an extra dime.

There is no reason, based on what we have recently learned about how they monitor drivers and passengers, to think that a driver being "offline" would matter at all to Uber. If you drive into a surge, offline or no, they know you are there and the surge will be affected.

Until Uber specifically says they do not track drivers that are logged into the app but "offline", I think the assumption has to be that they are tracking drivers always. I was hoping this thread could point me to some Uber statement about this question.


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## Trafficat

suberx said:


> This advice is based on a bit too rosey of a view about Uber and how they will manipulate drivers and passengers in order to make an extra dime.
> 
> There is no reason, based on what we have recently learned about how they monitor drivers and passengers, to think that a driver being "offline" would matter at all to Uber. If you drive into a surge, offline or no, they know you are there and the surge will be affected.
> 
> Until Uber specifically says they do not track drivers that are logged into the app but "offline", I think the assumption has to be that they are tracking drivers always. I was hoping this thread could point me to some Uber statement about this question.


I'm pretty sure going online affects surge. It does Uber no good to have a bunch of drivers sitting in a surge bubble with their apps off. They want those apps on. If there is no surge, I might be in the Uber high demand area with Uber off while taking Lyft calls, entering numbers in a spreadsheet, or even just napping. That wouldn't help Uber.


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## AvengingxxAngel

Offline simply means you're not working as far as I know. I keep mine off until I get closer to a surge, during surge time, then go online. The surge backs off the closer I get. Looks to me like Uber draws you closer, but doesn't want to charge a customer a surge price? I don't know, maybe I'm doing something wrong


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## Acuben

No you're not. 
Drivers go offline and wait when there is no surge
Passengers go offline and wait when there is surge 

You can leave your app on, just not in driving mode. Thats what it means to be offline


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## dennis09

suberx said:


> This advice is based on a bit too rosey of a view about Uber and how they will manipulate drivers and passengers in order to make an extra dime.
> 
> There is no reason, based on what we have recently learned about how they monitor drivers and passengers, to think that a driver being "offline" would matter at all to Uber. If you drive into a surge, offline or no, they know you are there and the surge will be affected.
> 
> Until Uber specifically says they do not track drivers that are logged into the app but "offline", I think the assumption has to be that they are tracking drivers always. I was hoping this thread could point me to some Uber statement about this question.


Bingo. This is exactly why I turn my location off as well. Myself, and several other self proclaimed experts, have noticed that driving towards surge even when offline will still help to kill it.


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## AllGold

dennis09 said:


> Bingo. This is exactly why I turn my location off as well. Myself, and several other self proclaimed experts, have noticed that driving towards surge even when offline will still help to kill it.


But it's hard to know if it's cause-and-effect or just coincidence.

When I'm at home, I usually just wear sweats or whatever. I change clothes to something more presentable before going out.

When there is a surge and I decide I want to drive and take advantage of it, I swear that just the act of me changing clothes/getting dressed kills the surge.


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## dennis09

AllGold said:


> But it's hard to know if it's cause-and-effect or just coincidence.
> 
> When I'm at home, I usually just wear sweats or whatever. I change clothes to something more presentable before going out.
> 
> When there is a surge and I decide I want to drive and take advantage of it, I swear that just the act of me changing clothes/getting dressed kills the surge.


 Nice try. Uber doesn't know what you're wearing, but they can still track your location even when you go offline. Based on your attempt at being a [email protected] it seems as though you didn't know that. You really think you're outsmarting the engineers by driving towards the surge with your app offline? lol Self-delusion is the best delusion.


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## Recoup

No kidding. If you think going offline makes you invisible to the algorithms, you're living in a fantasy world.


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## AllGold

dennis09 said:


> Nice try. Uber doesn't know what you're wearing, but they can still track your location even when you go offline. Based on your attempt at being a [email protected] it seems as though you didn't know that. You really think you're outsmarting the engineers by driving towards the surge with your app offline? lol Self-delusion is the best delusion.


Lighten up, Francis!


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## kdyrpr

I don't thinking having the APP on and being offline means a thing. MAYBE logging out of your account all together can hide you, I doubt it.


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