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The old ParkDetroit app, a model of efficiency and simplicity since 2015, is being fancied up with new bells and whistles for 2022. It's so new and fancy, it won't automatically update, and the old app will no longer work. You'll have to delete the old one and go to your phone's app store and download it.
The new ParkDetroit app's launch screen
The good news for all this hassle is added features.
Detroit's parking department launched a new and improved mobile parking application that allows users to prepay for spots and check on parking availability at various lots, garages and on-street metered spaces.
Users of the ParkDetroit app will be able to zoom into a map and pinpoint a specific garage, parking lot or metered street spot to check the prices and prepay for some spaces. The app also allows users to search by location and guide them back to their spot through turn-by-turn navigation. Visitors can also check for parking availability by searching the name of an event or venue.
...Once parking prepayments are made, the app generates a QR code, which visitors would scan to gain access to the participating garage or lot. ParkDetroit also has a section listing events in the city, such as sports matches and shows. Participating event operators can also change the cost of parking in real time, Hutchings added.
Woo, sounds fancy but also complicated. It'll probably help to have a co-pilot to handle the searching and navigation. Hutchings told the Freep that newer vehicles will have the capability of integrating the app into their own car's software, "freeing users from their smartphones."
For those of us who have used the app to swiftly and efficiently pay for street parking, the jury is still out. The new app downloads with a multi-screen tutorial, so we're expecting headaches.
