The radio takes serial (I2C) commands, and the Arduino converts the user interface so that you can control it. The chip comes in several flavors, each with slightly different features.

We peeked at the schematic and the shield is more for letting the Arduino control the radio by changing the oscillator frequency rather than performing the SDR functions.

The Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect board is fully compatible with the Arduino Cloud and because the Nano RP2040 Connect is a connected device, this opens up all kinds of possibilities.