Indeed; it doesn't feel as though it be in the interest of the website which is why support is dropping.
Youtube wants people to subscribe, which I don't do, I simply add the RSS feed of channels I want to be updated about which is probably not what either Youtube or those channels want given how much they are begging me to subscribe all the time.
That's still a subscription, it's just not attached to a YouTube account. Not my fault if someone generates statistics based on redefining words to suit their business model.
Yeah, I've cancelled all my subscriptions on YouTube and use a browser extension that hides recommendations and ads. I follow a lot of channels and there comes a point where I had to do something since I was missing videos constantly. When I want to watch YouTube I don't go to Youtube.com but open my RSS reader that links me directly to the videos.
They also have feeds for playlists but they are wonky (they only display a limited number of videos so won't contain new items if the new videos are added at the bottom) and not advertised.
You can also use https://api.invidious.io/ to get the feeds. I keep the Youtube feed since I just share button to Newpipe. From Newpipe I can send to Kodi for the big screen experience.