LIE

Version 0.26.1 (and 0.26.0) hasn't been published on F-Droid yet because it couldn't be reproduced (meaning that the app as built by F-Droid wasn't completely identical to the one published by the NewPipe team). The problem is tracked here:
https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/issues/10746

It's in the current build cycle, so give it 1-2 days.

Where do you find images that you could get a link to? I don't understand that feature

The app now shows links to images that NewPipe fetches like thumbnails, avatars and banners. You can find them in the video descriptions and in the 'About' channel tab.

The ability to download playlists is not introduced in this release. There is an open feature request for it that is tracked here: NewPipe#5482
In the meantime, you can use NewPipe in conjunction with Seal to download playlists.

Changelog

New:

• Support channel tabs
• Select image quality
• Get URLs to all images

Improved:

• Accessibility of player interfaces
• Better audio selection for video-only downloads
• Option to include playlist and video names to shared playlist content

Fixed:

• [YouTube] Fix getting like count
• Fix player not responding popups and crashes
• Selection of wrong languages in language picker
• Player audio focus was not respecting mute
• Playlist item addition occasionally not working

Changelog

New:

• Support channel tabs
• Select image quality
• Get URLs to all images

Improved:

• Accessibility of player interfaces
• Better audio selection for video-only downloads
• Option to include playlist and video names to shared playlist content

Fixed:

• [YouTube] Fix getting like count
• Fix player not responding popups and crashes
• Selection of wrong languages in language picker
• Player audio focus was not respecting mute
• Playlist item addition occasionally not working

Changelog

New:

• Support channel tabs
• Select image quality
• Get URLs to all images

Improved:

• Accessibility of player interfaces
• Better audio selection for video-only downloads
• Option to include playlist and video names to shared playlist content

Fixed:

• [YouTube] Fix getting like count
• Fix player not responding popups and crashes
• Selection of wrong languages in language picker
• Player audio focus was not respecting mute
• Playlist item addition occasionally not working

sonder be like

Since Whatbox allows you to SSH into your seedbox, you can setup slskd manually (root not required) and access its WebUI remotely.

YouTube views are not counted in NewPipe and neither are Peertube views, but there is an open feature request for it here: https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/issues/3092

This tutorial is pretty good as an introduction to modding APKs:
https://old.reddit.com/r/ApksApps/comments/oat3qu/tutorial_how_to_modify_apk_files_for_premium/
The example used is unlocking premium features but the principles are the same for disabling DRM.