the problem is that in the vast majority of cases, designers aren't involved. it's just code monkeys trying their best to implement functionality but without UI/UX design they are barely usable by the average person. I guess just by its nature open source is less of a concept in design so you don't get many volunteers. also designers are probably more averse to doing work for free since every goddamn costumer tries to get them to work for free.

Cause one was created to make money, while the other was created to actually be used...

They made the RTX version, so now I can see it in 4k, thank you developers!

Sometimes the open source equivalent is better. SmartTube is a much better app than the official YouTube app for Google TV / Android TV even though there's just one developer working on it. Even if it didn't support ad blocking, I'd still use it. Very nice app.

Similarly, pirate TV/movie apps often have a much better user experience than the legit ones. Compare Weyd, Syncler, or Stremio+Torrentio to the Amazon Prime video app for example. At least on Android (phone, tablet, TV), the Amazon app is garbage even though there's highly paid employees working on it.

In both cases, the people who work on the independent apps usually care about the user experience and use the app day-to-day themselves, rather than being told to do whatever makes the most money for the company. They have no reason to lock you in or otherwise force you to use the app, and instead compete just by having a better app.

And it's actually not slightly worse but better in every way.