Uber app will come pre-installed on grandPad tablet for seniors

Orange County tablet maker grandPad, which designs and sells a tablet specifically for seniors, will soon pre-install the Uber app on its tablets so users can easily hail a ride.

The integration, which is to be available in the first quarter of this year in all 50 states, is billed as an effort from both companies to increase mobility for seniors.

“We saw a tremendous need for seniors to have access to affordable transportation options, so we were looking for the biggest provider with the biggest coverage,” said grandPad Chief Executive Scott Lien. “Uber was the intersection of all those things.”

The grandPad integration will come with features not available in the regular Uber app, such as the ability for a caregiver to preset a menu of travel destinations and, with the user’s permission, for the app to send real-time travel updates to a family admin.

Lien declined to reveal the size of grandPad’s customer base.

The grandPad integration is the latest move from Uber to reach markets that aren’t typically the target of tech start-ups. The San Francisco company launched UberAssist last year, a feature that lets people hail a ride with a driver who has been specifically trained to assist seniors and passengers with disabilities and has a vehicle that can accommodate folding wheelchairs, walkers and scooters.

Twitter: @traceylien