TX here too. My 16-yo just got his learner's permit and that can't be done online. Many locations don't have available appointments for months. Some, such as in SE Texas, have same day appointments. We ended up driving over an hour away to get a same-week appointment.
I don't know if this is possible for your use case in TX but my local DMV in OR has a months-long wait for a REAL ID appointment. Or, you can walk in and get it done in about 30 minutes most days. I guess they only have one or two people fully trained to process the applications but similar to getting into a doctor's office when you have an urgent need, they can usually squeeze you in even without an appointment.
The last time I had to go into a DMV in TX was when I had let a motorcycle's registration lapse >1yr. It took going in-person to show some documents (I think the title?) to get it re-registered.
Other than that, for someone who already has their vehicle properly registered and they don't need a new photo for the DL, yeah you never really need to go in.
Also, last time I went in, they offered a text message queue system. Sign up online ahead of time, pick a rough time slot, they text you when you're ~10 minutes and then ~5 minutes until your number, then when you get in your number is one of the next ones up. I spent maybe five minutes total in there.
EDIT: Thinking back on that, it wasn't the DMV that I had to go to for that lapsed registration. It was the county tax office. So yeah, haven't been to a DMV in many years.
