Out of the box it can play audio in the background, and now that extensions are available you can block ads as well. You don’t really need constantly updating 3rd party clients or questionable firewalls anymore if you just want usable youtube on a phone.
My main issue with new pipe is that when I scroll down to read the comments, the video disappeares. It’s not fixed in place (don’t know what that’s called). Other than that, it’s great overall!