Hi Jack,
See this topic how you can join TestFlight which includes Trådfri support for now.
As IKEA does not support us with an official statement (for mainly Apple), we will not bring Trådfri support to our official release on iOS. IKEA has not provided us with a yes or a no since January 2020. This also means we will not invest time anymore on further development on Trådfri for iOS.
We strongly suggest reviewing a gateway from Phoscon which supports all Trådfri devices in Hue Essentials. From what I understand from your post, you found the excellent (deCONZ) choice already.
If someone is only using lights by IKEA, then a Philips Hue bridge could be suitable, too.