There's also Freetube, which is a fantastic desktop client.

https://freetubeapp.io

is this just a way to browse youtube without ads or tracking, or what?

I'm looking to just hide Shorts, but I want my recommendations. Not sure what's out there for that.

I'd recommend stayfree. It works great on mobile android with feature blocking (shorts and reels) and we'll as time based and scheduled blocks. You can remove the blocks by retyping a long prompt.

Unfortunately I'm not an Android guy.

For some reason I always preferred having tabs on desktop, so I can having stuff paused to be watched later.

Thanks, I've bookmarked it for later.

and Grayjay