Waymo just slid its self-driving ride-hail app into the Google Play Store

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If you live in the Metro Phoenix area and aren’t already part of Waymo’s small pool of riders, your chance is coming. Waymo just uploaded the Android version of its ride-hail app to the Google Play Store.

Interested users can download the app and apply to get waitlisted to be accepted into Waymo’s “Early Riders” program. Sounds like a lot of waiting around to me, although the thought of not having to talk to a taxi driver ever again does have some appeal. Waymo launched its first commercial autonomous taxi service in the cities around Phoenix late last year, with a limited number of riders.

While that test was invite-only, now that the app is on the Google Play Store, it’s essentially self-invite, which is fitting for the self-driving theme.

Presumably, you can also self-pay, self-carry-your-luggage, and self-amuse on your self-driving Waymo trips. Do you also self-tip?

The publishing of the app on the Google Play Store is a signal that early testing has gone well and Waymo is ready for more riders. Only the Android version of the ride-hail app is publicly available right now, with Waymo saying that there is an iOS version, just that it will be a little while longer before that hits the App Store.

Image: Waymo

If you live in Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, or Gilbert, head on over to the Google Play Store to download the app and sign up. Once accepted, you’ll be part of Waymo’s vanguard of early riders, able to call a driverless chariot to take you wherever you need to go. It’s not clear if you’ll have to sign a nondisclosure agreement once selected, early rider program members needed to so it’s likely you will as well.

If you don’t live in the Metro Phoenix area, download the app anyway, try to hail a driverless taxi and recreate the usual taxi booking experience when one doesn’t arrive.

What do you think? Ready for robotic chauffeurs? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Tesla to halt online sales of the $35k Model 3
• Tesla’s full self-driving Autopilot mode is getting a vicious price hike
• I’m looking forward to dropping a hot, steamy deuce in a self-driving car
• Facebook is testing a new News Feed that puts your timeline on a carousel
• Sony lifted the veil on its new PlayStation but sadly it’s not launching this year

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.