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I bought my son a Yamaha NP-12 for his keyboard lessons, not realising he would need "one finger chord" type auto accompaniment (as well as backing drums etc) for the course.

In my ignorance I thought keyboard was taught the same way as piano! The music school he goes to say they prefer little ones (he's five) to start with keyboard as the course is more accessible and unweighted keys are easier for little fingers, so we can't just switch to piano lessons.

Have I wasted our money here? If I got hold of an iOS device (we all have Android phones), would the Yamaha Digital Piano Controller give us the functionality we need? Or is there a third party option that is compatible with Android?

Any advice would be gratefully received as endless Googling doesn't seem to be finding me firm answers.

My son is absolutely obsessed with music theory (he's Autistic and it's his "special interest" at the moment) so I'm keen to support that in whatever way we can before frustration sets in and his interest wanes.

Maybe better ask at the music schools what models or apps they have in mind.
It is technically possible for accompaniment to work from a usb midi connected android app, but I've only seen one made by Roland for their DPs, no idea for the NP12.

Keyboards with auto-accompaniment are commonly a class apart, and probably that particular school/course is thinking about the cheap models from yamaha or casio, and not the more expensive ones. Inquire with the school if they prefer Yamaha or Casio (for simpler access during classes). The most common models are Yamaha PSR-e373 or 2 models from Casio: CT-x700 (overall better quality, with lots of buttons) or the CT-s300 (simpler model, with simplified user interface).