Granted, there are probably better solutions that require neither quarters nor a mobile app, but between those two, the mobile app wins for me.
It works pretty well.
Parking meters are another thing that seems to be going the app route. I use one locally but when I travel it’s usually not the same network so its figure out how to do it.. (website, payment kiosk, another app…)
Apps tend to be a pretty good solution for regular local users. They're less good when you're dealing with different apps/kiosks/etc., with different interfaces, and different ways of storing value in different cities.
Gone that way already in the UK, ironically in lots of places where there is very patchy or no mobile signal at all.
Adding app operation alongside coin operation would have been an improvement in useability. Replacing coins with apps is just making it suck in a different way.
Once you're below some use threshold, a lot of places would prefer to ditch cash entirely.
It looks like something similar is in effect here: instead of meeting the different customers where the customers alrady are, it's the company's preferred way or the highway.