Thank you all for your continued feedback on this, both those who like the addition of the app, and those who don't like it. Some further things to address:
The reason why we deemed it important for the app to come with the OS rather than just being an option in Apps is because the app is meant to be a way to introduce people to GrapheneOS by showing them the release note and how they can contribute/get involved in a way that's right there. It's likely that the default homescreen will be edited in the future so that after setup, the Apps app and perhaps the Info app will be among the apps that are on the homescreen, so that they're more prominent.
The second reason for that is because we will likely be expanding the functionality of the app beyond its current scope of just providing information that can be found on the website by incorporating tips and guides for new users and existing long-term users alike.
As an example of what that might look like, there could be a "get started" option that takes you through settings like auto reboot, duress, etc., briefly introduces you to the feature, and has a button that directly takes you to that setting. Google has a similar app called the "Pixel Tips" app.
On top of that, when a new feature is added, the app could notify the user about it, at which point you can be introduced to that feature.
Feedback and observing what people say shows that not everyone is on top of the release notes, and therefore people miss a lot of features that they could be using simply because they're not aware of them. To help people make the most out of GrapheneOS, we believe that kind of user interface will be able to do that in an unobtrusive, interactive way. We want to avoid the current situation where people come to our community to ask when X feature will be implemented, only for us to say that it was already implemented a month or two ago. :)
Finally, as another point that demonstrates the benefits of this app, is that we have already seen an uptick of people joining our community channels that directly mentioned they did so because they saw the link to e.g. our chat rooms via the Info app. That tells us that the app is already providing information that people may not have been aware of or may have pushed aside, and that it's providing value to them.
Contrasting that to the fact that some people don't want it or need it (which is absolutely fine) being able to easily disable it and have it be out of sight, out of mind, we currently believe that having it be a part of the OS is the right move.