What’s the difference between firmware updates using OWA and firmware updates using APK? A native Android app isn’t more secure than a web page running on that

What’s the difference between firmware updates using OWA and firmware updates using APK? A native Android app isn’t more secure than a web page running on that device, and the champions of Open Web Apps need the same hardware access privileges as native apps have in order to be a viable competing platform for development. HN is very strongly in favor of OWAs, so it’s confusing to see hostility to hardware access by webpages here? How else could a firmware updater app work?