Dad’s short answer: Mostly no. Unlike robot vacuums, these machines are fully usable straight out of the box with the onboard controls, and the app is a convenience rather than a requirement. There's one exception worth knowing about.

What you lose by skipping it

Typically: custom water and suction levels beyond the built-in modes, maintenance reminders, filter and roller life tracking, and firmware updates. None of that is essential to cleaning your floor, and the machines with a good onboard display cover most of it without a phone.

That's a refreshing difference from robot vacuums, where the app is basically the product. Here you can buy the machine, never pair it, and lose very little.

The one reason I'd install it

Firmware updates. If a manufacturer ships a fix for a real behavioral problem — and I've tested a machine with a drive-wheel issue serious enough to warrant one — the app is how you get it. A machine that's never been paired never gets patched.

So my advice is to pair it once, take the updates, and then ignore it. You don't need it in your hand to clean a floor.

The privacy footprint here is also much smaller than a robot's. These machines don't map your home and don't have cameras. There's far less to be concerned about.

Dad’s Take: Pair it once for the firmware, then forget it. This is one category where the phone isn't part of the job.