This is sadly still the case and one of the main reasons I use Samsung phones today instead of Pixels. One Hand Operation gives me more ergonomic and easy to use gestures while also playing nicely with third party launchers.
There’s just no way in hell I could use the pixel launcher as my daily driver. It’s too simple and lacks the bare minimum customization options that I would need to be able to tolerate it.
Adguard is the best option for system-wide, rootless ad blocking on Android IMO.
It’s the best because it also performs cosmetic filtering to reclaim the empty space that most other blockers leave behind after removing an ad from a web page. This makes web pages look much cleaner and is something that I value in any adblocker, mobile or otherwise. The free version works across any browser or embedded webview instance within apps, and the paid version filters all ads within apps as well. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Completely negligible impact on battery life as well.
I’ve tried them all, and as of right now Connect feels the most polished and feature rich. So that’s my recommendation.