There are reasons for the way it works the way it does, and they are explained in an offshoot reference to the conversation I am about to give you.
In the conversation @UserCustomerGwen talks about getting SD card recording to work without Internet, which would at a minimum mean no authorization from the Wyze servers to boot up the camera.
It was my hope that they would end up with an authorization-free optional mode of operation. They only talked about getting the SD card recording to work without Internet: