I don't have aphantasia but if I never learned about the mind's eye from other people I think I would have used it almost never, just sometimes as a memory aid. Everything I think about is done abstractly; ie words in books and conversations take on no image in my mind, only the ideas transfer. After learning about how imagery springs to other people's minds when they're reading, conversing, etc. I've tried to do it myself and it is possible but always a conscious effort and usually tiring. The benefit for me is that images are more memorable than ideas alone so my recall of the things I try to visualize improves if I do it well, and has led me to try things like diagramming the things people say, also improving recall and understanding.