We have started the rollout of new Android and iOS driver app releases that bring significant improvements to the active tour functionality — the screens a driver works from in the driver app¹ between starting a tour and completing its last stop. While this does not come with direct public APIs to use, we still want to highlight the improvements here, how they build on top of previously announced features, and what they improve for your drivers and your operations.

The release ties together two lines of work we have announced over the past year. The first is the configurable tour display — the off-route tour display², the active tour labels³ and their partial updates⁴. The second is stop grouping⁵ — the automatic groups for stops created from places⁶ and the smarter grouping rules⁷. Both now come together on the driver’s screen.

Grouped stops appear as one stop

When several consecutive stops of a tour share a group⁵ and are at the same location, the driver app¹ now shows them as one stop. A dedicated group badge shows how many stops it stands for, the stop numbering counts the group once, and everything attached to the grouped stops⁵ is presented in one place:

• Notes to the driver⁸ and custom content⁹ of all grouped stops⁵ are merged into one card, with duplicates removed — an identical instruction¹⁰ attached to both orders appears once, and checklists with the same title combine their items. This includes the verification steps¹¹ introduced earlier this year: a date of birth¹² or delivery code¹³ check that both orders share is asked once, while differing checks stay side by side.
• Documents¹⁴ and photos⁸ of all grouped stops⁵ are shown in one list and one gallery.
• Completing the stop completes all grouped stops⁵ together, exactly as before.

Common workflows that used to need manual care or an API integration now simply work out of the box. Until now, stops only grouped when they followed a strict structure — the same custom content⁹ on every stop of the group⁵, and a group value set on each of them. Many of you built customizations or automations just to keep that structure intact, copying content across grouped stops⁵ or assigning groups to stops created from places¹⁵. The platform now does both: each stop keeps its own content, the merged view is built for the driver on the fly, and place-based stops arrive grouped. Those integrations can be retired once your fleet has moved to the new app versions.

An example, end to end

Say two orders are picked up at the same restaurant and delivered to two different customers. This is how the pieces fit together:

1. Create the bookings from a place. Both bookings use the restaurant’s place¹⁵ as their pickup, whether created via the dashboard, the customer portal¹⁶, a CSV import¹⁷ or Create a Booking¹⁸. Because the stops are created from the same place¹⁵, they receive the same automatic group⁶ — nothing to configure, nothing to set via API.
2. Merge them into one tour. It does not matter how the two bookings end up on the same tour:
   • manually, through the dispatch tools¹⁹ and the Tour Planner²⁰ in the dashboard,
   • automatically, through our automated tour planning — available on request for your account,
   • continuously, through our Stacking Engine²¹ extension, which stacks new bookings into tours as they come in,
   • or through your own integration via Dispatch stops into a tour²² and Dispatch or move stops into existing tour²³.
3. The driver sees one pickup. The tour opens with a single pickup stop at the restaurant, badged with a count of two. Both orders’ notes⁸ and custom content⁹ sit on that one card, both orders’ documents¹⁴ and photos⁸ are one tap away, and completing the pickup once sends the driver on to the first drop-off. A tour that used to read “four stops” now reads “three”.

None of this is specific to pickups. Drop-off stops or task stops that share a group⁵ behave exactly the same way — and whenever they are created from a place¹⁵, they carry such a group automatically, so two deliveries to the same office building or two tasks at the same site show up as one stop for the driver as well — with the instructions for that location, such as the custom content⁹ of both orders, presented together on that one stop.

Groups⁵ you set yourself keep working the same way, through Bulk Update Stop’s Groups²⁴ or on booking creation — the grouped display applies to any group that meets the grouping rules⁷.

Your active tour labels are now live

In April we introduced the active tour label configuration³ ahead of app support. The new releases put it to use: the labels²⁵ you configure appear on the tour and on every stop card, in the order you define, with your localized prefixes and suffixes.

Out of the box, the active tour shows priority indicators²⁶ and the total tour distance on the tour, and priority indicators plus expected arrival time windows²⁷ on stops. From there you can tailor it to your operations — a few examples:

• Put the order number from your booking metadata²⁸ on each stop card, so a driver can confirm it with the recipient at a glance.
• Show the customer tier or a delivery-type flag from metadata²⁸ as a stop label, so drivers know what to expect before they arrive.
• Show the driver’s compensation²⁹ for the tour — and, if you like, the tips on top — or leave those labels out if you would rather not show pay in the app.

Configure this in the Active tour display tab of the Driver Experience settings²⁵ in your dashboard, or via Update Tour Display Configuration³⁰. Two labels are always part of the configuration: the priority indicator²⁶ on tours and stops, and the group⁵ badge described above, which always comes first on stops. Everything else you can add, reorder or remove.

Alongside the labels²⁵, the active tour now speaks the same display language as the tour lists: the place¹⁵ name as the stop title, the address as the subtitle, and localized stop type labels — so what a driver sees while picking a tour is what they see while working it.

A clearer current stop and tour overview

• Redesigned stop card. Address, stop type, position in the tour, contact details³¹ and labels²⁵ are now together on one card on the current stop screen.
• Tour overview. The stop list numbers the stops, colours the numbers by status, and collapses completed stops by default so the remaining route stays in view. Tapping any stop opens a read-only details view of that stop.
• Navigate from the overview. Every stop in the overview offers a Navigate button that opens the driver’s preferred navigation app.
• Grouped stops on the map. Grouped stops⁵ carry their own pin icon on the map.

Contact details come from the stop

Previously the apps tried to be helpful when a stop carried no contact details and combined information from the booking’s customer and the tour. This produced name and phone number pairs that did not belong together. The new releases show exactly the contact details stored on the stop³¹ — the name, and the call and message buttons only when the stop has a phone number. If you have relied on the old fallback, make sure your bookings carry the recipient’s contact details on the stop itself, for instance via Create a Booking¹⁸ or Update Stop Properties³².

Updates reach your drivers faster

Changes made in the dashboard or by your integrations — a stop inserted into a running tour, a re-planned route, a cancelled or reassigned tour — now show up on the driver’s screen noticeably faster. The app was already notified of such changes in real time, but then had to go and load the updated tour before it could show it. Now the update itself arrives with the notification, and the screen refreshes on the spot. A driver whose tour was completed or taken over is told immediately as well. The app also uses less mobile data and battery for keeping the screen current, and a quiet or slow connection no longer leaves it a step behind.

A more responsive app

Every active tour screen now loads only what it needs: the current stop is small and quick, the tour overview stays compact no matter how many stops or packages a tour carries, and documents¹⁴, photos⁸ and long package lists³³ are loaded when the driver opens them. Drivers get snappier screens, especially on long tours and during busy hours.

A heads-up on stop numbers

Because grouped stops⁵ count once in the driver app¹ while the dashboard lists every stop individually, the numbers can differ: what is stop 3 for the driver may be stop 4 on the tour in your dashboard. When talking a driver through a tour, refer to the address or the recipient rather than the position. We are considering bringing the grouped display to other areas of the product as well, so both sides see the same picture.

What to check on your side

• Retire customizations that mirror custom content⁹ across grouped stops⁵ or that assign groups to stops created from places¹⁵, once your fleet is on the new app versions.
• Check that your bookings carry the recipient’s contact details on the stop³¹. The apps no longer fall back to the booking customer’s details when a stop has none.
• Whether drivers see their compensation²⁹ in the active tour is now decided by your active tour labels²⁵ alone: add the compensation label to show it, leave it out to hide it.
• Brief your drivers on the changes and ask them to update. The rollout is phased over the coming weeks and the previous app versions keep working during the transition; drivers on the new version get the grouped display, the merged content and the configured labels²⁵ right away. Once the rollout is complete we will retire the previous app versions, so that every driver works the same flow.