Roughly how big are these files, and are they stored locally on your machine or mounted over the network (using FUSE, GVFS, or a kernel-based one like NFS?)
I've noticed a few linux file managers are quite cautious loading multimedia thumbnails for networked filesystems mounted with GVFS, not sure of a fix for that aside from looking for a command line utility to mount using FUSE instead
A privacy focused client that offers personalized recommendations is a bit of a juxtaposition IMO, and is definitely impossible now that YouTube removed homepage personalization for logged out accounts.
If you are fine with YouTube without ads, then you could log in with the likes of Revanced or Grayjay, and get a feed with personalized recommendations. This isn't private though. Grayjay does however have a feature to anonymize your watch activity, and to perform certain actions in an anonymous YouTube session.
NewPipe (and Freetube the last time I checked) already does this, but they use a built-in subscription system that does not require any kind of account
Piped (and LibreTube) uses its own account system which allows you to sync its built-in subscriptions & playlists between mobile and desktop, but I have not looked at whether they offer a feed with the synced subscriptions.
Personally if I'm specifically after watch recommendations, I just look at the related video suggestions on something that I like