In the past I would agree, but anymore all of the recommendations are things I watched a couple of years ago. I'm not getting turned on to new, relevant content but refed stuff I 'liked'.

Hm, I actually see this as an advantage of these alternative frontends since there is far less incentive to be pulled down some rabbit hole. Without recommendations and autoplay the thing just plays the video you point it at and stops without trying to entice you to stay just a bit longer [1].

[1] ...cue audio from that ancient C64 game: Another visitor, stay a while, stay FOREVER... https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Impossible_Mission

If you tap a video in Newpipe then swipe left/right on the bottom area of the screen you get comments, description and related videos - is that what you want?