Marques Brownlee, the YouTuber known as MKBHD, has responded to backlash over the launch of his new wallpaper app, called Panels. In a post on Tuesday, Brownlee says he’s going to address users’ concerns about pricing and “excessive data disclosures.”
Brownlee revealed the new app as part of his iPhone 16 review on Monday — a video that’s usually among his biggest of the year. But a flood of criticism about the Panels app quickly overshadowed comments about the new iPhone. “Part of building in public is getting mass feedback immediately, which is pretty dope. Almost exactly like publishing a YouTube video,” Brownlee said.
Panels is meant to offer access to a curated selection of “stunning full resolution wallpapers” from digital artists, but fans aren’t happy about the subscription that comes along with it. It costs $49.99 per year (or $11.99 per month) for a Panels Plus subscription, which lets you download all the wallpapers in the app in high resolution. You can still access a more limited selection of wallpapers for free, but you can only download them in standard definition and have to watch two ads first.
“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,” Brownlee said on X. “I’ll also be dialing back ad frequency for the free experience.”
Users on the iOS version of Panels also pointed out some privacy concerns, as the app asks to track your activity across other websites and apps and also appears to use location data. Brownlee says these data disclosures are “likely too broad” and that “we’d never actually actually ask for your location, internet history, etc.” He says the Panels team is working to fix the issue. The Verge reached out to Brownlee with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
Brownlee has increasingly been dabbling in building his own products, after a decade-plus as a reviewer. He joined the accessories maker Ridge as chief creative partner and worked on a sneaker collaboration with Atoms. Brownlee says this new wallpaper app is built “from scratch” and will split profits with the digital artists featured in the app 50/50. The app is “starting off as a wallpaper app now,” Brownlee says, but he promises it will “be pretty consistently improving over time.”
