freetube shows shorts in the same way it shows normal videos, just in a separate category. you have to look for them and click to see them and they don't push you to jump to the next one, and most importantly they are not random, just your subscribed channels.
some channels use them as intro/overview for their longer videos which i find useful. other channels use them for stupid stuff which i ignore.
you can ignore them completely if you want. freetube also has a category for livestreams, which i ignore to the point that i forget it's there.
grayjay could support shorts in the same way.
I bought in right away too. Louis gave a rundown on the idea; namely, you can pay for it, or not pay for it, and in either case we are going to do our best to make it work for you, and maybe those you recommend it to.
Nice. Happy to support thinking like that.