You don’t need to use the app to operate the dishwasher. It works absolutely fine as a dumb dishwasher.
Competing brands offer the blocked features without any need for this sort of connectivity, so I'd say ''It works absolutely fine as a dumb dishwasher'' would not be a strong marketing slogan for Bosch.
Every other dishwasher in the price range offers the same features hidden behind the app out of the box.
This one would be fine as a 'dumb' dishwasher, but I wouldn't have paid $900 for a $400 dishwasher if I'd known all the nicer features (like Eco mode or self-cleaning) require an app.