Helps iPhone drivers decide if a ride is worth it: GigU's iOS version took off, but this already worked on Android

A Brazilian "traffic light for ride requests" app: when an Uber dispatch card pops up, it marks it green, yellow or red based on the per-km and per-hour targets the driver sets. In October it shipped an iPhone version, and its rating rose faster than any other iOS rival in a month. But it isn't a new product: its Android version has 2.8M installs, its revenue is public, it has raised funding, and it is in litigation with Uber. Below: why it's surging now, where the money comes from, who else is building on iPhone, and what's left for followers.

Two reviews from the same day

On 2026 Oct 9, three days after the iPhone version went live, two reviews appeared on the Brazilian App Store. One five-star: "Feliz que agora tem para iPhone", glad there's finally an iPhone version. One one-star: "Screen sharing on, phone overheats, lags until it's unusable."

Those two sentences are basically the whole story of GigU on iOS. iPhone drivers had been waiting years for a tool like this, so people installed it the day it launched. But Apple won't let one app read another app's screen, so on iPhone you have to keep Screen Broadcast running and let the app read the ride request card off the screen. The phone heats up, the battery drains, and notifications arrive late. Oct 23 also brought a one-star review: "It worked fine until you came to iPhone. Uber changed the ride request screen on iPhone and GigU can't read it anymore."

What it actually is

GigU was formerly StopClub, a Brazilian company that had run a driver community for 7 years. The product does something simple: in the 5 to 10 seconds while a dispatch card is up, the driver must decide whether to accept, and GigU reads the fare, distance and duration, converts them into earnings per km and per hour, and compares them with the target you set. The homepage example: a ride of R$25.20 works out to R$2.25 per km and R$48.77 per hour, R$18.90 net after fuel. It supports Uber, 99, 99 Food, inDrive, iFood and Keeta.

价格(官网,11-06):月付 R$12.90,季付 R$36.99,年付 R$114.99,7 天免费试用。iOS 版现在有个上线活动,「iOS 上全功能免费,到 11 月 15 日为止」,早先达人帖里写的是免费到 10/31,看来至少延期过一次。

How much traction

• iPhone version 2026-10-07 launched. The Brazil store's rating count is 10-28, which is 214,11-06 283,9 days ahead by 69 ratings; in Brazil's Business Top Free chart it has ranked between 17 and 34. Brazil store average rating: 4.64 (App Store, 11-06).
• Portugal has only 6 ratings. The US has a separate English version, "GigU: Drive Smart, Earn More", with 47 ratings at 3.95 stars, lukewarm.
• The Android version is the core: 2.8M installs on Google Play, adding 7k in the last 34 days, 51k ratings at 4.45 stars. It ranks #41 on Brazil's overall Top Grossing chart and #1 in the Automotive & Transport Top Grossing chart (Google Play, 11-06).
• The company's finances are public: in June 2025, monthly revenue was R$950k, it has reached break-even, ARR exceeds $2M, and the CEO said monthly growth averaged 22% over the past two years (Startupi, 2025-08). In 2025 it raised a ~$5M seed round led by Redpoint eventures and said it would enter the US (PRWeb, 2025-05). In March 2026 it took first place at SXSW Pitch.

So the iOS curve isn't "a new app took off"; it's an established brand moving its Android users and channels onto iPhone.

Where users come from

Existing Android users and brand. The official site claims "2M+ downloads and 15M rides analyzed daily." Early iOS reviews often say things like "I've used it on Android all along" or "finally on iPhone"; Facebook driver groups had long asked for a GigU alternative that works on iPhone.

The same driver influencers re-promoting under new titles. The YouTube channel UBER 24 HORAS (202k subscribers) posted "FINALMENTE! GIGU NO IPHONE" in October 11, a tutorial on setting per-km and per-hour targets in Uber, 99, and so on. It reached 11-06 with 12k views, and the description links to the download. On Facebook, Falando de App and Uber Pensador posted "GigU is on iPhone, free until 10/31." On TikTok, a batch of driver accounts sell with gigu.me/ links carrying referral codes, apparently with commissions. The company also runs an "ambassador" program that gives free memberships in exchange for promotion and feedback.

Time-limited free access. The free period is meant to build installs and ratings before converting to subscriptions. The store average is 4.64, but among the 24 text reviews we could see, 10 were one-star, while most high scores came from users who only tapped stars without writing. This suggests an in-app prompt for ratings (inference).

Official account promotion. TikTok @gigu.br has only 4,940 followers, yet two videos got 2.29M views (791 likes) and 1.06M views (3,632 likes). The views-to-likes ratio looks like paid distribution (inference).

The fight with Uber is itself marketing. Globo, Exame, Extra and TechTudo have all covered it. Its complaint to Brazil's antitrust body CADE against Uber made O Globo again in July 2026. "The app Uber doesn't want you to know about" became a headline influencers like.

Who built on iPhone first

GigU is actually a latecomer on iPhone. The path of "screen broadcast plus dispatch card recognition" was first proven by an indie developer:

Over the 10-28 to 11-06 stretch (9 days), GigU picked up 69 new ratings, Corridex only 13, and the rest barely moved. Technically none of them stand apart. One driver 10-20, who subscribes to two of them, wrote: Corridex gives you more options and lets you flag multi-stop jobs as bad jobs, which GigU can't do; but GigU is far better at working out fuel costs and earnings targets. Each product has its strengths. What decides who pulls ahead is who has the users and the creators.

Its problems

• The iPhone experience is worse than Android. Screen broadcasting runs constantly: overheating, lag, battery drain, late notifications, and it only pops up after you've already declined a ride. On iPhone XS, notifications don't arrive; on the iPhone 13, "90% of rides don't show"; on the iPhone 17, some say there are no alerts. One review's title is simply: "Bad on iPhone, great on Android."
• Uber keeps fighting tools like this. It has sued this one and also changed its dispatch card interface. A user said that once GigU came to iPhone, the iPhone dispatch screen changed. A four-star review also warned that reading cards via screenshots may violate Uber's driver agreement.
• Apple's position is unclear. Nobody knows whether App Review will tighten rules on apps that run screen broadcasts for long periods to read other apps.
• No iPhone users paying yet. The free period ends 11/15, and the iOS version is currently not on any grossing chart. One three-star review reads: "The phone gets hot and drains battery, and the help it gives doesn't make up for those two things, especially when you have to pay."

If it were you

C: worth learning from, not worth copying as is. What made it take off on iPhone is 2.8M Android users, 7 years of driver community, ready-made influencer channels, and a reputation for "being on the driver's side" earned through its fight with Uber. Followers can't get any of that. The tech is open to anyone; Corridex built it solo and more granularly, yet gained only 9 ratings in 13 days.

Who it suits: people who already have ties to drivers or couriers in a country, with accounts and communities, where GigU isn't yet present (for example, Spanish-speaking Latin America has DiDi, Uber and Rappi, and Southeast Asia has Grab; we didn't check whether local equivalents exist, but we infer there's room). Or people who want to bring the same idea to another gig job: freight, courier-only delivery, errands, anything where you decide in seconds whether to take a job.

Who it doesn't suit: anyone trying to head-to-head on iPhone in Brazil, where five rivals already exist, led by a funded company; anyone aiming at the US, where Mystro, Para and Gridwise compete and GigU is also entering with funding; or anyone without a single contact in driver communities.

How to build it: start with Android. Accessibility permissions read dispatch cards reliably, with no overheating and a bigger user base. Treat iOS screen broadcasting as step two, and make battery drain and latency top priorities from day one. Get the core right first: per-km, per-hour and net-after-fuel earnings compared with your target. Then add what GigU's iOS version lacks: flagging rides with stops, and saved target sets by time of day and area. Price it like GigU: a monthly plan about the cost of a lunch, discounts for quarterly and annual plans, and a 7-day trial.

How to acquire users: copy GigU's playbook. Find local driver YouTube and TikTok accounts, give each a referral code with commission, and run an ambassador program that trades free memberships for content and feedback. Launch with a free period to build ratings first. Use the headline drivers care about most: "Is this ride actually a loss?"

Timing: watch GigU's moves. Its money is clearly going into international expansion, and so far we've only seen US and Portuguese listings, both lukewarm. If you want to take a Spanish-speaking market, launch before it possibly rolls out there in the first half of 2027 (inference).

How we'd be wrong: ① After 11/15, GigU's iOS version charts in the top 20 of Brazil's Business category and holds there: iPhone drivers really will pay, and iOS is bigger than we assumed; ② Brandless indie apps like Corridex outgrow GigU in rating growth once their free period ends: the product can beat the channel, and one person can build it; ③ The reverse: Uber or Apple moves (dispatch screen changes every few weeks, the app gets pulled, screen broadcasting gets restricted): the business can't survive on iPhone, leaving only Android.

Data and sources

• App Store: GigU (id6775593538) ratings and free chart in Brazil, US and Portugal, 2026-10-28 to 11-06; Brazil reviews (10-07 to 10-31). Ratings for similar apps Corridex, Mobai, Motorista One, Corrida Lucrativa and Mystro come from the App Store, 11-06.
• Google Play: co.gigu.app installs, ratings and top grossing chart, 11-06.
• Pricing and free period: gigu.app/br (opened 11-06, "Grátis no iOS até 15 de novembro"); ambassador program: gigu.app/br/embaixadores.
• Company revenue and funding: Startupi (2025-08-15), PRWeb (2025-05-14), Época Negócios (2026-03), O Globo (2026-07), Extra (2025-06). All company-reported or media coverage.
• Creators: YouTube UBER 24 HORAS "FINALMENTE! GIGU NO IPHONE" (10-11,11-06, about 12k views); Facebook Falando de App, Uber Pensador; TikTok @gigu.br and driver accounts.
• Technical approach of iOS rivals: ioslovers.blog comparison piece (2026-10-10), corridex.app.
• Where we wrote "inferred" or "est.", it's an inference.