As I understand it (being quite new to this), if you clip the phone into the controller and use the provided USB to USB C cable to connect the back of the controller to the port on the phone AND turn off the phone's WiFi, the phone and controller will communicate AS IF the phone still had a WiFi connection. It does, but it is hardwired instead of transmitted. Therefore, you don't need to use the password nor have the phone search for the drone's WiFi. You do need to check if the phone's location is on. It's part of my preflight checklist: Phone in airplane mode with location ON. The reason for this is that the controller does not have its own GPS....it uses the phone GPS.
I agree, using the controller is significantly easier and more precise than using the phone App for flying.