This is a review of whether the Mystro app is worth its value. Mystro is a third-party app to manage rideshare apps like Uber, Lyft and Postmates. Basically, its an app that claims to perform two duties; the first is to enable smooth switching between ridesharing apps Uber, Lyft and Postmates so that drivers don't have to worry about turning off and on these apps when balancing work between the three in a shift. The second claim is that it manages the request sequencing process much better, allowing drivers a higher success rate and improving their overall performance. Mystro's claim is that they increase income by up to 30% if you use their app. This is a bold claim and an easy one to prove since income is quantifiable. Take into account that any screenshots might change over time since the app is constantly being updated and upgraded.
Let's take a look at the app and how they can back up their claims.
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Android Only
So, if you are an iPhone user, which means you make up 34% of the population in the US, you cannot use Mystro. This means that only 66% of all drivers will have access to Mystro unless you go out and buy an android phone specifically for their app. -
Cost
The app costs $11.95 per month, which means you have to drive that amount to cover the expense. Work out what your current daily income is from driving and then factor in the percentage of this income you will pay for Mystro. If you are only a part-time driver and your income is around $10.50 an hour after all expenses (Absolute Net), and you work on and off around 10 hours a week. (Based on Uber statistics, over 50% of drivers work under 10 hours a week, while only 7% work over 50 hours a week) Then your monthly income is around $450 a month, which is supplementary income to another source. This means that Mystro will cost you 1 hour of work, which is 2.38% of your income. By adding Mystro, you will improve your income by $135 per month. So this is a good start, even if your initial expense is one hour of work to cover the monthly Mystro fee. -
Home Screen Shot and Primary App Selection Screen Shot
(Source: Therideshareguy)
To start off with, always keep your app in sleep mode while setting functions. If not, you will be pinged by the app you are connected to, either Uber, Lyft or Postmates. Set your preferences and then turn sleep off. On the selection screen, you decide which app is your main one (primary) and set the time you want this to be active. The moment the time is up, the system will turn it off and open the second app. If you set this feature to off, then the system will keep both apps on, and you will be receiving pings from either app.
Learn More: http://www.ridesharingforum.com/t/gadgets-and-apps-to-make-rideshare-drivers-world-smooth/83 -
Ride Type Preferences Screens
(Source: Therideshareguy)
In this screen, you decide which types of rides you can accept. Don't try to accept rides you are not allowed to use. In this screen you can set UberPool and Lyft Line off, so you won't receive these requests. Remember, if you want to ramp up your income, and are not choosy about how you do it, then keep this option on.
If you are working for a bonus or trying to meet a guarantee than you should keep as many options open as possible. -
Ride Preferences Screen
(Source: Therideshareguy)
This is the next screen you will reach, and here you set the variables that determine what kind of rides you want to accept and which ones you want to be filtered out. This is a very useful screen and is perhaps the core of Mystro's 30% benefit claim. You can set:
- Time to Pax Pickup, making your pickup times faster and thereby giving you a quicker acceptance rate between rides. Basically, you would decide that a minimum of 10 minutes to pick up is acceptable, so you set this to 10 minutes.
- Pax rating, which means you can filter out passengers with really low ratings. These usually mean you filter out bad tippers.
- Surge or Primetime, where you can filter out different levels of the surge. This means that you would prefer to accept only 2.0x x surge pax. However, why you would want to filter out any surge price is dependent on where you drive and how many surges you get.
So, this basically covers the functionality of Mystro. Now let's take a look at the efficiency and cost effectivity of this app.
Is Mystro Useful?
Using Mystro is location dependent and whether you are ready to drive seamlessly between rides. If you live in an intense city such as NYC, Chicago, SF, LA, you get the drift, then Mystro could definitely add benefit just by helping you collect the requests you need. However, since some locations already filter requests to a 10-minute minimum, just due to the nature of the city, this particular feature is not useful. Add to this the 90% acceptance rate that Lyft demands, rejecting rides based on distance to pax is a problem. Also, if the distance is calculated at 11 minutes, you miss out on it, so this constraint is not useful for major cities that have a high saturation of drivers and a high saturation of customers in a small area.
If you live in a more rural area, where driving between pickups can average out at 20 minutes, then sure, you might want to use this feature. However, you should look at the package holistically, and see how the entire system can be used to improve your income.
This means that we need to see if you drive for only one, two or three services.
If you drive for more than one service, then obviously Mystro can help in managing the switch and allowing you a more fluid drive. The very fact that it manages your acceptance by source (if you decide to keep all apps open) will increase your chances to get rides one after the other. Remember, you have to factor in cancellation and acceptance rates, they impact your performance. So, working for one using Mystro might improve certain conditions, but in general, I do not see a 30% improvement coming. If you drive for more than one, then Mystro is definitely going to improve the experience.
The Mystro Added Value
For more experienced drivers, switching between apps can become second nature and be performed in 2-3 seconds. However, for most of the drivers, seeking a hands-off experience, Mystro will come in useful for this function.
Mystro will come in handy when setting the surge rating, and only if you work for more than one service. For instance, if you work in an area where you get 3.0X Uber Surges and only 200% Lyft Primetime, then it is obvious that you want to filter your Uber setting to 2.0X, as a minimum that equals the Lyft 200%, that way all surge and primetime will give you equal income, and you won't need to worry about losing on one while the other gives more.
Filtering Facts
Take into account that while you do filter rides, Mystro does not ignore them or decline them automatically, you can still decide to accept any ride. Even if you filtered out POOL or Line, you could still accept them.
The Matrix
Setting your filters is a matrix, based on the metrics you want to accept before taking any other rides. By allowing Mystro to switch between apps, giving you better ride benefit through seamless acceptance, will improve your income. You have to learn what is the best matrix for you, it's really a trial by error situation, and you might want to take a few days to try different filter mixes until you are happy with the results.
Overall Experience
The hands-off approach is marvelous; it gives even the most experienced drivers freedom of control and freedom from excessive hand movements. Since it is only Android, all iPhone users will have to wait patiently for this nice app.
Conclusions
Mystro was thought by and developed by a rideshare driver. So, it comes from a thoughtful understanding of the actual driving process. A lot of detail has been considered, and it does provide a very useful platform for managing multiple apps.
Mystro would best be used in large cities or in rural areas, close urban area's will not benefit from all the features, but it will still provide an excellent solution to change over between apps.
Does it increase 30%, that can only be tested after 3 months, one month for initial settings, learning how to find the correct matrix? The second month to get a proper income, and the third month to test continuity.
If you own an Android phone and you work for more than one service or are considering working for more than one service than Mystro is a must have app. If you only work for one service, then Mystro will add performance improvements, but I doubt it will increase your income by 30%, maybe by 10-15%. This is no small number, in the industry, a 10% increase in income is considered a big thing, and in fact, it is. Especially if you are a full-time driver.
So, if you have $11.95 spare, go download Mystro and see how your driving experience income improves.