People already use ad blockers on YouTube which have a similar effect, so this isn't a unique "problem" to NewPipe. I also directly financially support creators

People already use ad blockers on YouTube which have a similar effect, so this isn't a unique "problem" to NewPipe. I also directly financially support creators whose content I enjoy and most large creators these days have advertisements embedded in their videos, as well as asking for support through means other than AdSense. But more importantly, the main reason I use NewPipe is because it has basic features that the official YouTube app doesn't provide -- playing videos in an overlay and in the background (so you can lock your screen and continue playing the video). You can get this incredibly basic feature if you pay for YouTube Red, which seems to indicate the only reason this feature isn't provided for the free version is spite. And that is the benefit of free software.