Even automatic backups run at intervals to cause less server load. The article says you absolutely have to write down your restore key too (They say notebook or PW manager).

It may seem obvious now, but I know most people will forget and be puzzled if their phone suffers physical damage. A lot about this has mandatory manual steps.

I think you misunderstand. Any backup that requires a manual step every time a backup is created is not a backup. A backup that requires some one-time manual setup, like recording a restore key, is fine.

Yes, there are some people who will forget to do that, or just lose the restore key, but that's the security/usability trade off.