I've seen more than a few cabs in Seattle with "Use the APP" on the side. Every cab company has a different app.

Uber did start the shift to using apps instead of hailing or calling cabs. Now, the idea is in the "fragmentation stage" with the early adopters, where everyone and their brother has developed a different app. Once some of the underperfomers fade away, there will hopefully be more centralization when late adopter customers start using this market.

Taxi prices are set by the city https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/taxi/taxi-rates while Uber/Lyft can set their own prices. Maybe taxis should be able to lower their prices and surge up with demand to even the playing field.

For what it worth, I used that a number of times when I was in Portland, and it worked just fine for me. Can't compare the prices, having no basis to compare with, but I don't remember the prices being outrageous. In general, if Uber drags the taxi industry kicking and screaming into 21st century, it's a win-win.