Here is another tool for checking/scanning Android apps; https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/
Have you tried SmartTube? I’d say that’s what most people use on Android TV to get rid of ads.
This article might help answer some of your questions:
Gonna suggest a more lowkey one, https://runbox.com/
I did, all I found was how to define the cookielife time by yourself, not what the default value is… :<
I found this thread discussing it, they found the maximum lifespan to be around 400 days for the different browsers. However Google Docs state that it can be longer than 400 days if specified correctly. https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/cookie-maximum-lifespan/105916/5
I don’t view the ghacks.net article as badpress myself after reading it. Also the System1 deal, which is no longer a thing, is the same company who bought Startpage, which is still recommended over at privacyguides.org
I was in your exact same boat a year ago, and decided to try both solutions. I ended going with the streamlined one. As you said, you are already paying for the service and Proton Pass is imo a pleasantly nice password manager to use. It is a lot easier to create and delete aliases there than through Bitwarden/DDG, at least that was my experience. Proton pass is now my most used day to day app list and I’m very happy with it.
While all eggs in one basket isn’t great from a security stand point, I am pretty happy with this solution. I do however keep 2fa in separate app, Ente Auth.