Nintendo really leaned into the idea of everyone in a room communicating online, reaching back a decade now to Wii Speak. Still, it even name dropped “back seat players” last week and just about everyone hates those people. Nintendo clearly disagrees, or it rejects that reality to substitute one of its own.
The app is probably the best way to accomplish what Nintendo is angling for here albeit at the expense of what is expected, desired, and preferred. Most people have (or have access to) a smart device so an additional Wii Speak-like peripheral isn’t necessary. Silver linings, I guess. The most obvious solution would have been to have both universal, system integrated voice chat in addition to the app for online party games which is the only situation I can think of where a bunch of people screaming/guffawing into one microphone during a game would be useful let alone even remotely acceptable.