How else did you expect it to message him? Or let him turn it off remotely? Sure, could put a SIM in it and do an SMS that way, but then you have to pay for service for your thermostat, rather than just using the WIFI you already have.
Couldn’t it just have a lcd display with a scrolling alert message? Maybe even a red light that turns on to draw attention.
"I could turn off the unit remotely to prevent stress on the compressor"
Good point. In my experience an air conditioner is something that you use when you're home, so turning it off remotely doesn't make any sense, but I suppose other people might AC their house while they're gone all day?
If you live somwhere that might be >100 degrees, you can't just turn the AC off all day