MKBHD's Panels Wallpaper App Faces Backlash Over Pricing, Creator Promises Changes

MKBHD is committed to fixing his wallpaper app, but not its $50 price tag

MKBHD has promised to improve the app but will likely not drop its price. In this day and age, finding a free wallpaper for your Android phone has become exceptionally easy. Besides us supplying you with a fresh batch every Wednesday, numerous apps, websites, and AI image generators offer infinite libraries you can pick from at no charge. Nevertheless, YouTuber MKBHD (Marques Brownlee) has launched a controversial wallpaper app that costs $50 per year. Following user complaints about the app's performance, pricing, and permissions, the YouTuber has promised to enhance the application -- while maintaining the same price tag.

YouTuber Marques Brownlee's new wallpaper app draws criticism for steep price

YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, has been criticised for a phone wallpaper app he launched, called Panels, on iOS and Android. Available at $11.99 per month or about $49.99 per year, Brownlee has personally curated digital wallpapers from artists on the app. Immediately after the announcement was made on X, he started to receive a wave of backlash on the social media platform over the high price and data privacy concerns. Brownlee responded to the negative comments later on a post. "Part of building in public is getting mass feedback immediately, which is pretty dope. Almost exactly like publishing a YouTube video," he noted. He then went to say that he would fix the "excessive data disclosures," and admitted that people were right to bring it up. Why did YouTuber Brownlee's review of Humane Ai pin stir up a social media storm? | Explained The app asked users to track their activity across other sites and apps. It also shows up as using location data. Brownlee commented on these, saying the data disclosures were "likely too broad" and that they would never actually ask for details about user location and internet history. He also accepted feedback on the steep subscription price, saying it will be a challenge for them to deliver the value for the money. "I'll also be dialing back ad frequency for the free experience," he added. Users can still access a more limited selection of wallpapers for free but they can only be downloaded in standard definition, and users have to watch a couple of ads first. Brownlee included the announcement around the app on his iPhone 16 review video, which normally tends to have a large number of views. Earlier in April, his review of Humane's AI pin ruffled features for being too harsh, according to some viewers. Published - September 25, 2024 01:09 pm IST Read Comments

Marques Brownlee responds to backlash against $50 per year wallpaper app: 'First thing we're doing...'

Marques Brownlee, often known as MKBHD, is a popular American tech YouTuber. He is best known for his in-depth technology reviews, particularly on consumer electronics like smartphones, laptops, and gadgets. With 20 million YouTube subscribers, Brownlee holds significant sway in influencing people's decisions when it comes to buying electronics. In fact, he has even been blamed for tanking companies and products with his negative reviews, as happened most recently with the Humane AI pin. Panels is a wallpaper app that allows its subscribers to access a selection of "stunning full resolution wallpapers" from digital artists. The app, launched by Brownlee on Monday, comes with a hefty price tag - it costs $49.99 per year for a Panels Plus subscription. Users can also opt for the monthly subscription plan of $11.99 per month. Users who subscribe will be able to download wallpapers in full resolution. People can also use the app for free - although then they will be able to download lower resolution images and will have to watch two ads. Brownlee announced his new app as part of his iPhone 16 review on Monday. By Tuesday, social media had been filled with criticism against the wallpaper app, with some calling it a cash grab and others raising concerns about data privacy. Most critics were surprised that such a product came from Marques Brownlee, who has built a reputation for his well-researched insights into the latest tech releases. "Hard to understand someone spending all these years building up the best reputation in tech, and then suddenly blowing it all by releasing this ad-spamming, location-tracking, $11.99 a MONTH wallpaper trash. What on earth?" wrote one person on X. "Imagine having a large enough audience to make almost any idea work, and then settling on a subscription-based wallpaper app," another wrote. Much of the criticism was directed towards the cost of the subscription, with users pointing out that people did not want to pay $50 for wallpapers. Some, however, praised MKBHD for supporting digital artists at a time when generative AI artwork is on the rise. Marques Brownlee responded to the backlash on social media platform X. He addressed two major points of criticism - concerns about pricing and data privacy. Several people had pointed out that the Panels app can track users' location, usage data, and other personal identifiers across apps and websites, according to TechCrunch. "First thing we're doing is fixing the excessive data disclosures, as people rightfully brought up. For transparency, we'd never actually ask for your location, internet history, etc. The data disclosures (that everyone is screenshotting) is likely too broad, and largely driven by what the ad networks suggest. Working to fix that ASAP," Brownlee said. The American YouTuber said he is working on a plan to dial back advertisements on the app. "As far as pricing, I hear you! It's our own personal challenge to work to deliver that kind of value for the premium version. (Weekly Friday drops are already starting) I'll also be dialing back ad frequency for the free experience," he posted. Browlee acknowledged that the target market for a subscription-based wallpaper app is "insanely small."

A $50 App That Sells Free Wallpaper? YouTuber MKBHD Is Making Bank -- And Angry Fans - Decrypt

One entertaining thing about social media is it's become way easier for critics to get criticized in public. Marques Brownlee, the YouTube influencer and tech reviewer known as MKBHD, is learning this the hard way after launching his new mobile wallpaper app, called Panels. People are hating it. Loudly. The app, which was launched as part of Brownlee's iPhone 16 review video, is awash in a flood of criticism from fans over its pricing, data collection, and perceived general skeeziness. Panels is designed to offer a curated selection of "stunning full resolution wallpapers" from digital artists. However, the subscription model -- $49.99 per year or $11.99 per month -- is alienating many among Brownlee's 19 million-plus followers. The pricey Panels collection includes one that is nothing more than a solid orange background (good for Halloween, maybe?); another is a pixelated piano and a flat image of a tiny person walking on a blue background. The negative reactions in Brownlee's comment section were... abundant, apparently topping 13,000 replies within the first 20 hours. People didn't really seem to care about the new iPhone, but they really wanted to know what he was thinking about when he contrived the price structure for his app. "No one's paying $50 a year for a regular wallpaper app lil bro," user MrUnknownXD commented to the tune of more than 25,000 likes. "I wonder how insanely out of touch you have to be to think a $50/yr subscription for a wallpaper app is a good idea," said another commenter. Brownlee, who has previously ventured into product creation -- most notably through collaborations with Ridge and Atoms -- emphasized that Panels was built "from scratch." The wallpaper is "all made by artists who can choose to involve AI or not in their creation process," Brownlee explained to a user questioning the app's value. Plus, Brownlee pointed out that half of the revenue (after Apple takes its 30% cut) would go to the wallpaper artists. So far, the app has been downloaded over 10,000 times on Android and is the second most-downloaded app in Apple's Photo and Video section (which doesn't provide download numbers). A free download does not mean that someone then purchased a subscription, but it's a public stat worth following -- so let's do some back of the envelope math: With just 10,000 people subscribing, he'd make around $500k a year, and at the higher end, if 1.9 million people -- 10% percent of his base -- subscribed, then he'd made nearly $10 million per year. MKBHD said he takes 50% of the revenue and gives 50% to the artists. So, that $10 million would be split up between the App Stores who would get $3 million, then $3.5 million for MKBHD and collaborators, and finally $3.5 million split between artists featured in the app. Not a bad haul for an orange backdrop. Besides the price structure, users also shared concerns about the huge amounts of data that Panels is collecting before letting users download jpegs. The list includes location, contact info, local IP address, device model, cookies, local addresses, and more. Brownlee tried to calm the waters, pointing out that there's a free tier for deadbeats; of course, they would need to watch two unskippable ads before downloading a single file in lower resolution. But there's no such thing as a free lunch, right? He also promised updates for those who subscribed -- which also played against his own reputation, as he is known to recommend buying products for their current value and not for what they promise. That was a key point that led him to call the AI Humane pin the worst product he has ever covered. Smart people learn from their mistakes of course, and Brownlee didn't get to be Big Man on YouTube without smarts. He quickly acknowledged the negative feedback and promised that the team is working to address the "excessive data disclosures" and "dial back ad frequency" for the free version of the app. However, he doubled down on the $50 yearly subscription plan. "As far as pricing, I hear you! It's our own personal challenge to work to deliver that kind of value for the premium version," he tweeted. He also promised that the Panels app will "be pretty consistently improving over time." Perhaps a red background is in the works? We can only dream.

MKBHD released a wallpaper app, and it's getting destroyed | Digital Trends

Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, is a popular tech YouTuber who focuses heavily on mobile content. He just released a new wallpaper app called Panels for iOS and Android that features real artists, not AI. But there's a problem: the app is getting demolished on social media. Brownlee first announced the app on X. At the time of writing, the post (a Tweet? Xeet? Who knows anymore?) has 1.6K comments, over 1.7K reposts, and over 13K likes. Despite this, the sentiment in the comment section is far from positive. Recommended Videos One of the first replies to the post comes from Quinn Nelson, otherwise known as SnazzyLabs -- another popular YouTuber. He points out that the Panels app requests a curious number of permissions that it doesn't need, including: Location Usage Data Diagnostics Identifiers Purchases Contact Info Search History SnazzyLabs framed his feedback in a polite way. Many others users did not. One user said, "I haven't seen MKBHD getting roasted this bad, ever." Panels charges a $50 per year subscription fee for premium access to its library of wallpapers, and much of the discontent stems from the high cost. One commenter even said that MKBHD "graduated from the Apple School of Pricing." Other fans have accused Brownlee of being out of touch due to his fame and wealth. Still more have raised privacy concerns over the number of permissions the app requests. The app itself is riddled with ads, even after paying the subscription. According to one post, the Panels app is just a repackaged version of an older wallpaper app with Brownlee's branding on it. YouTubers often break away from YouTube and broaden their business ventures, and this is an interesting way for Brownlee to proceed -- but it's easy to tell that it's not a successful venture. Removing the ads, reducing the cost, and eliminating many of the permissions the app needs is the first step he needs to take to turn the ship around. MKBHD responded to these criticisms in another post, thanking his fans for the feedback and promising to fix the "excessive data disclosures." He addresses the pricing concerns, but the phrasing of his response suggests it will remain at $50 while he works "to deliver that kind of value." However, free users will potentially see a reduction in the ad frequency.

Tech YouTuber MKBHD Responds After Facing Massive Backlash Over His New $12 A Month Wallpaper App

Popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, has responded to the criticism surrounding his newly launched wallpaper app, Panels. What Happened: On Tuesday, Brownlee addressed the backlash, assuring users that he would address their concerns about the app's pricing and "excessive data disclosures." The app was launched as part of his iPhone 16 review earlier this week, something that usually attracts a lot of attention. "Part of building in public is getting mass feedback immediately, which is pretty dope. Almost exactly like publishing a YouTube video," MKBHD said on X, formerly Twitter. "As far as pricing, I hear you! It's our own personal challenge to work to deliver that kind of value for the premium version." He also promised to reduce the frequency of ads for the free version. See Also: Apple's Former Design Maestro Jony Ive Confirms He's Joined Forces With OpenAI's Sam Altman For A New AI Hardware Project Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: The Panels app is designed to provide access to a curated selection of high-resolution wallpapers from digital artists. The Panels Plus subscription, priced at $49.99 per year or $11.99 per month, allows users to download all wallpapers in high resolution. A more limited selection of wallpapers is available for free, but only in standard definition and after viewing two ads. Many users took to social media and criticized the numerous ads, inadequate security that enabled users to download wallpapers, and an exorbitant initial price. Users also compared the initial reaction to Panels' with Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1, the products that were reviewed by MKBHD and given poor ratings. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Elon Musk Reacts After Mark Cuban Says He Would Buy X 'In A Heartbeat' Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Tech YouTuber MKBHD's Panels app is a bit underwhelming

Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, is stepping out of the reviewer role and into the mindset of a builder. This week, he launched a wallpaper app called Panels on iOS and Android, where he's personally curating high-quality digital wallpapers from artists -- but of course, there's a catch. In order to access high-resolution wallpapers without viewing ads, users need to cough up about $50 per year, or $12 per month. With almost twenty million YouTube subscribers, Brownlee holds a lot of power in his tech reviews. He's so influential that he's been blamed for tanking hyped companies like Fisker and Humane after he posted negative videos about their products. These accusations are misguided -- Fisker's cars had serious security flaws, and Humane's AI pin barely worked despite raising $230 million before shipping a product, which probably contributed more to these companies' failures than a YouTube video. Still, given Brownlee's reputation as a keen-eyed, discerning tech reviewer, fans had high expectations when he announced that he was launching an app. The Panels app has a strong premise. When Brownlee is reviewing a new phone, laptop, or smartwatch, his devices always have particularly stylish wallpapers. As he pointed out when announcing the app, if you type "where does mkbhd..." into Google, one of the first suggestions is "... get his wallpapers." He couldn't have picked a better time to launch the app, either. Last week, Apple launched the iPhone software update iOS 18, which emphasizes lock screen and home screen customization. So, there should be an appetite for sleek, high-resolution wallpapers that help you get the most out of iOS 18. But the flaw of Panels is that the prices are too steep. You can use the app for free and download lower resolution images if you watch two thirty-second ads per image -- but that kind of cash grab feels like something Brownlee himself would disparage. A redeeming quality of the app is its attempt to unlock a new income stream for digital artists in a time when generative AI is such a threat. Brownlee said that payments are being split 50-50 with artists -- if a user buys a wallpaper for about $8, and Apple takes 30% of the payment, then the artist would be left receiving about $2.80 per purchase. Since it's so easy to find cool, high-res photography online, Brownlee is trying to create a market for something that people aren't used to paying for. But, if anyone has the sway to make it work, it would probably be a tech influencer with as much reach as Brownlee. If artists can make some additional, passive income from the app, what's the harm? Well, in terms of data privacy, there could be harm. Fans quickly pointed out that according to the App Store, Panels could track users' location, usage data, and personal identifiers across other apps and websites. To Brownlee's credit, he posted on X soon after the launch to address the issue. "First thing we're doing is fixing the excessive data disclosures, as people rightfully brought up. For transparency, we'd never actually ask for your location, internet history, etc. The data disclosures (that everyone is screenshotting) is likely too broad, and largely driven by what the ad networks suggest. Working to fix that ASAP," he said. He added that he will also dial back ad frequency for the free version of the app. For what it's worth, you can still get cool new wallpapers from the free version of Panels. But the lower-resolution images don't look great unless you add Apple's filters, and it's difficult to imagine paying the price of a Spotify subscription to get around that barrier. "Part of building in public is getting mass feedback immediately, which is pretty dope," Brownlee wrote. "Almost exactly like publishing a YouTube video."

MKBHD's Panels Is a Masterclass in How Not to Make a Wallpaper App

Ever since Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, dropped his review of the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, Panels has been the talk of the town. For those unaware, MKBHD kicked off the video by talking about how he has been working on a new wallpaper app for the past year, and that it's finally up for download. As someone who takes to apps like Zedge and Backdrops for free wallpapers, I was honestly excited to have a third option available, that too for both Android and iOS users. Got to make that phone look pretty now, don't we? But, as soon as I installed Panels (Download) and started using it, I realized that this was not the right wallpaper app for me. In fact, it may not be so for most other people, given how people were venting out their frustrations in the comments of Marques' latest video. Well, turns out, there are some big problems with the app. The app interface is pretty simple and I liked that there are no distractions whatsoever. After selecting five different artists that bring different art styles to your lockscreen, you are instantly taken to the homepage of the app. Signing in to Google is not mandatory and that's great. However, that's about where the good ends. Before even taking a look at the subscription, as someone who relies heavily on free wallpapers, that's where I headed instantly. Wallpapers that don't have the premium 'crown' attached to them are free. The usual drill. However, there's a catch. You will need to "Watch 2 ads to unlock SD". Hmm, convenient. So SD, aka Standard Quality, limits you to 1080p wallpapers. After a minute of ads, you can basically download wallpapers that look like you have just stolen them from Google Images. Since I'm so used to having 4K wallpapers on my phone, the instant quality degradation was shocking. So, what if I want full resolutions for these images? Well, to access 4K or full-resolution wallpapers, you will need to pay $50 (discounted) a year. In India, I'm looking at either Rs 999 a month or a discounted Rs 1,999 a year, which is absolutely nuts for a wallpaper app. In comparison, contemporary wallpaper apps like Zedge and Backdrops offer a one-time purchase option and even the monthly plans start at $2 or $5, which is much better than Panels' $12/month subscription. The lack of a one-time payment option is equally disappointing. Given the pricing of the annual subscription, I wouldn't even want to guess that price for a one-time payment of the app if Marques ever decides to add one. In Marques' exact words, "We have a bunch of awesome artists over there that we are splitting profits with 50/50 and there's already a ton of great collections of art and much more incoming and we have some pretty big plans for this thing so it's starting off as a wallpaper app now, I don't want to overpromise too much but it's going to be pretty consistently improving over time which is part of the reason why we're offering a subscription to support it.." So, after watching almost 15 minutes of ads to get just 15 not-so-sharp wallpapers, I decided to uninstall the app. There's another core problem here. When browsing through Panels, some of the wallpapers seemed AI-generated. And, to my surprise, when someone asked "What's stopping me from asking AI to create a unique, high-quality wallpaper that no one else will have?" Marques said, "These are all made by artists who can choose to involve AI or not in their creation process - it'll be up to you how much you value the human touch." So, you're telling me that instead of asking Gemini or Copilot to generate free AI-generated images myself, I will be paying a hefty sum for someone else's AI generations? Moreover, on iOS, as soon as you install the app, it asks for permission "to track your activity across other companies and websites." A wallpaper app honestly has no business doing so. Meanwhile, on Android, you don't see such a permission window, which is strange. However, a glance over the app page on PlayStore or App Store reveals how much information the app demands from users. While I do understand that paying for art and supporting the artist is an honorable thing to do, in this day and age, Marques' approach toward this very initiative seems quite off. While I do understand folks who are willing to go all the way and even pay for the app, I don't see myself doing so in my right senses. Moreover, turns out, it's an old wallpaper app launched way back in 2021, as AppleLeaker noted on X. So, Panels is ultimately just a repackaged wallpaper app with Marques' name on it, quite literally. As MKBHD suggested in his video itself (about the new iPhones), "Buy it for what it is today and not for what it could be tomorrow." Well, you can count me out "today" as Panels is far from being the app you'd expect from MKBHD or in general a wallpaper app. I feel if Marques himself were to review his own app for a video, its fate would not be much better than the Rabbit R1 or Fischer. What about you? What do you think about MKBHD's new Panels wallpaper app? Cry your heart out in the comments down below!