If someone is even mildly technical I'd recommend going the Sideloadly route for getting Apollo, ad-free/background-play YouTube, ad-free/backgroun-play Twitch, and ad-free Spotify.
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Spotify: $10.99/mo ($132/yr)
YouTube: $13.99/mo ($168/yr)
Twitch: $11.99/mo ($144/yr)
Narwhal: $6/mo ($72/yr)
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You'd be right, the $72/yr for Narwhal is less than the $100/yr developer certificate, but with all of the other sideloading opportunities it's no contest w.r.t cost.
* In-feed ads. These include ads for content prominence (preferential placement for creators), articles with link-out, ads for Google products and services like purchasing movies and shows in their store, and ads for Google product features.
* Modal ads in videos which they facilitate. That is, pop-up ads in content.
* Ads for merchandise under the content.
* Ads for paid subscription to channels.
* In-content ads in the form of creator sponsorships. These are becoming egregious.
At this point my experience is infinitely better with another front end which bundles SponsorBlock. Why am I paying for a FAR worse experience on their app? Their family subscription is not cheap where I live.
Looking forward to the EU's sideloading rules coming in though, so I never have to deal with this.