Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, is stepping out of the reviewer position and into the mindset of a builder. This week, he launched a wallpaper app known as Panels on iOS and Android, the place he’s personally curating high-quality digital wallpapers from artists — however after all, there’s a catch. With a purpose to entry high-resolution wallpapers with out viewing advertisements, customers have to cough up about $50 per yr, or $12 per thirty days.
With virtually twenty million YouTube subscribers, Brownlee holds a variety of energy in his tech evaluations. He’s so influential that he’s been blamed for tanking hyped corporations like Fisker and Humane after he posted unfavorable movies about their merchandise. These accusations are misguided — Fisker’s automobiles had severe safety flaws, and Humane’s AI pin barely labored regardless of elevating $230 million earlier than transport a product, which most likely contributed extra to those corporations’ failures than a YouTube video. Nonetheless, given Brownlee’s fame as a keen-eyed, discerning tech reviewer, followers had excessive expectations when he introduced that he was launching an app.
The Panels app has a powerful premise. When Brownlee is reviewing a brand new cellphone, laptop computer, or smartwatch, his units all the time have notably trendy wallpapers. As he identified when asserting the app, should you kind “where does mkbhd…” into Google, one of many first recommendations is “… get his wallpapers.”
He couldn’t have picked a greater time to launch the app, both. Final week, Apple launched the iPhone software program replace iOS 18, which emphasizes lock display and residence display customization. So, there needs to be an urge for food for glossy, high-resolution wallpapers that allow you to get probably the most out of iOS 18. However the flaw of Panels is that the costs are too steep. You should use the app free of charge and obtain decrease decision photos should you watch two thirty-second advertisements per picture — however that form of money seize seems like one thing Brownlee himself would disparage.
A redeeming high quality of the app is its try and unlock a brand new earnings stream for digital artists in a time when generative AI is such a risk. Brownlee mentioned that funds are being break up 50-50 with artists — if a consumer buys a wallpaper for about $8, and Apple takes 30% of the cost, then the artist can be left receiving about $2.80 per buy. Because it’s really easy to search out cool, high-res pictures on-line, Brownlee is making an attempt to create a marketplace for one thing that individuals aren’t used to paying for. However, if anybody has the sway to make it work, it will most likely be a tech influencer with as a lot attain as Brownlee. If artists could make some extra, passive earnings from the app, what’s the hurt?
Nicely, when it comes to information privateness, there might be hurt. Followers rapidly identified that in keeping with the App Retailer, Panels may observe customers’ location, utilization information, and private identifiers throughout different apps and web sites. To Brownlee’s credit score, he posted on X quickly after the launch to deal with the problem.
“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 mentioned.
He added that he may also dial again advert frequency for the free model of the app.
For what it’s value, you’ll be able to nonetheless get cool new wallpapers from the free model of Panels. However the lower-resolution photos don’t look nice until you add Apple’s filters, and it’s troublesome to think about paying the worth of a Spotify subscription to get round 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.”
