I quit Wordle when NYT bought it and started asking me to make an account. But I started again using the app because one of my kids does it and, as the article says, it does give something to talk to people about. So far, you don't have to make an account to use the app. I'll never make an account to be tracked just to play a word game.
I switched to a free iOS indie game called "Word/off". It's a two-player Wordle clone where you choose a word for your friends to solve. I find stumping my friends or guessing their words more fun than solving the same Wordle word as every other NYT reader.
Unfortunately, the App Store says the game is not currently available in my country (the US). In the meantime, there is a web version of the game:
