[cronix]

Yes, ONLY if you want to download them from the playstore. As you already noted, on Android you can sideload apps and get them from other places other than the playstore. So you can still get the same app from another source without an account.

Some companies like DJI actually let you download from their site directly and bypass the playstore. Notice the apple version links to the apple store but the Android version downloads the APK directly from DJI: https://www.dji.com/downloads/djiapp/dji-fly

[dolmen]

Bypassing the Play Store is also a bad sign, especially from chineese company. This is bypassing the Play Store rules about permissions granted to the app.

From experience, companies that provide apps directly have some malware to hide.

Here is an example: GAN Cube is the world leader in Rubik's Cube. They provide an Android app by direct download [1]. Strangely this app has the permission to install other apps. That's obviously something not allowed to publish on the Play Store.

[1] https://cubestation.com/