> why? you can save the website to your home screen and should be able to get the same user experience for launching the thing.

Except saving that to the Home Screen isn’t the same user experience as downloading an app via an qr code, and you’ll be expecting some pretty technically incompetent people to be using the parking space.

But I do agree with your general point about the UX inside the (web|mobile) app.

the complaint wasn't about the 'discovery and install experience', it was about the UX of paying for parking every day. There are definitely things that the app store experience brings to the table for distribution of apps - trust being the main thing I think. I really don't like the barriers that iOS specifically puts in place for web apps - they're intentionally making it harder than it needs to be, in order to protect their walled garden and the $$ that brings them.

I was clearly replying to your comment about how “saving a webpage to the home screen is easy”.

Yes it’s easy…if you’re technical. But most people who drive are not good with technology.

“Most people who drive are not good with technology”?

Now there’s a correlation I wasn’t aware of! Regrettably you’re forcing me to use one of the most annoying phrases on HN: “citation needed”.

It's just a subset of "most people". Hardly a controversial claim.