IcyScroll ehsjoar1967 ask for sha256sum for the certificate that is used for signing the official app, in case it's different than the one used for apps Nord distributes via Play Store. You can then use AppVerifier (from Accrescent) to verify if it matches what you downloaded. Feel free to post it to this forum as well.
ehsjoar1967 So the verification of the source of the app aside, should we conclude that they are maintaining two separate apps here? One is demanding you to sign into Google PlayStore before connecting, and one is not.