I for one don’t play around with my stats. I set a schedule and that’s the way it stays. But yes, using any other interface with the stat works perfectly fine.
I also have mini splits at home for AC in the summer, so when I shut down my boiler for the season, the stats can be used for temp in the rooms, even though they are set to off.
And because there isn’t an official Mr. Cool driver, I use an http driver to send commands to the mini splits, if needed.