A big concert this weekend? A driver might want to find a position near the arena’s exits — or avoid the area and its traffic entirely. A weather alert for rain in the next hour can let them know more business is coming soon.

“There’s fragmentation and a lack of transparency of information on what’s happening in real time and what’s going to happen,” Mr. Green said. “We’re connecting bread crumbs across data areas.”

Sergio Avedian, a senior contributor for The Rideshare Guy website and a driver coach, says the apps can help drivers, especially those new to the job, plan out their day, position themselves in the right places at the right time and wait for the most lucrative fares. “Drivers who just turn on Lyft or Uber and take whatever rides it sends are not making as much as they could,” Mr. Avedian said.

When a driver who uses both Uber and Lyft accepts a ride request, he or she will switch off the other service (ignoring or turning down ride requests can hurt a driver’s standing). Thanks to all that switching, their records of time and miles driven are fragmented. Services that stay on in the background all day can track miles driven and dollars earned per mile or per hour, for tax purposes and to analyze revenue.

Gridwise and other apps can also help give drivers a big-picture view. For example, knowing that a number of planes are landing and not that many drivers are at the airport could encourage more Uber and Lyft traffic.