Not a 3rd party front end as such but on android I use YT through browser with DeArrow, Sponsorblock & uBO. I never sign in to YouTube, subscriptions & “watch later” i handle via a specific note set up in Joplin. Also all tracking is removed first via Untracker. Takes an extra few seconds to add video links to Joplin but its become second nature & works well for me & of course this way let’s me save links to PeerTube content & any other sources too

I’m not an “imagephile”, my eyes can tell the difference between 4k & 1080p but for a 45 min TV show I couldn’t care less if its in standard def.

We have an HTPC handling all media including TV recrdings so I took a USB with a few media files of differing qualities & tested them on TV’s in the store - no way I’m buying a TV without seeing how it handles everyday stuff that isnt the ridiculous over bright awful motion smoothed in store demo scenes.

I’d never use the “smart” features of a TV, that thing is never going online.

Last 3 TV’s have been Panasonic. One of them was a lower priced set but still fantastic picture. Not the best UI & to be honest a nightmare menu system but excellent panels & no ads or BS in the UI.

The way the tech overlords are heading I’m not looking forward to replacing our set when it eventually needs it

Wouldn’t say scam but potentially unsustainable. Some years ago I signed up for a brand new startup Nextcloud service which was priced far too low & went under very quickly. Switched to a hosted Nextcloud provider who had been around a long time (still around). They were really good but after a short time I decided to learn how to host it myself.

Hardware wise you don’t need much, I upgraded to a used Pi5 8GB with fanless heatsink case & added an m.2 SSD. Only 1 user on my instance but I often share folders with others, it’s robust & never once crashed.

If exposing to www you need to keep your network secure. There’s a learning curve but self hosting can be rewarding. Any if you’re lucky you might get to spend hours & hours problem solving when something breaks 😉😁