A Raspberry Pi will work as a Jellyfin server, but it will really struggle if it has to transcode any media.

If you want your Jellyfin server to be up and accessible at all times, I would suggest getting a second hand PC. I’m personally a fan of small form factor mini PCs. Anything with a 7th gen Intel processor or newer, with integrated graphics, will be able to hardware transcode anything but AV1.

I certainly prefer fewer and longer ad breaks, over several short ones, but this still sucks.

I’m not really sure that’s a fair argument. Android generally pushes Google Play, and Samsung devices push Samsung pay. Sure, Android has more choices, but it’s still device manufacturers pushing their own products.

Of course Apple should allow competition within their ecosystem, but Samsung and Google are basically doing the exact same thing.