Tech Mark Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, is changing his job on YouTube from reviewer to builder. His new wallpaper app, Panels, came out this week for iOS and Android. In it, he personally chooses the best digital wallpapers from artists, but there’s a catch. Users have to pay about $50 a year, or $12 a month, to get high-resolution images without having to watch ads.
Since almost 20 million people follow Brownlee on YouTube, his tech reviews have a lot of weight. People think that his negative videos about businesses like Fisker and Humane, which were getting a lot of attention, brought down those companies. These claims are not true. Fisker’s cars had major security holes, and Humane’s Ai Pin barely worked even though it raised $230 million before shipping a product. This is likely what caused these companies to fail more than a YouTube video. Still, Brownlee’s fans had high hopes when he said he was making an app because he is known for being a very critical tech reviewer.
The idea behind the Panels app is strong. When Brownlee tests a new phone, laptop, or smartwatch, the wallpapers on his gadgets are always very stylish. When he announced the app, he said that one of the first things that comes up when you put “where does mkbhd…” into Google is “… get his wallpapers.”
Also, he couldn’t have picked a better time to drop the app. The iOS 18 update for the iPhone came out last week, and it focusses on making the lock screen and home screen more customisable. With that in mind, people should want sleek, high-resolution backgrounds that make iOS 18 better. Panels’ flaw, though, is that they cost too much. You can download lower-resolution pictures with the app for free if you watch two 30-second ads for each picture. But Brownlee might not like that kind of money grab.
One good thing about the app is that it tries to give digital artists a new way to make money at a time when generative AI is such a danger. When someone buys a wallpaper for $8, Apple takes 30% of that payment, so Brownlee said that payments are split 50/50 with artists. This means that the artist gets about $2.80 for each purchase. Brownlee wants to make a market for something that people don’t usually pay for since it’s so easy to find cool, high-resolution photos online. However, someone with as much power as Brownlee in the tech world would likely be able to make it work. So what’s the harm if artists can use the app to make some extra money without doing anything?
Well, it might be bad for data safety. Fans quickly pointed out that the App Store said Panels could see where users were, what apps and websites they were using, and personal information about them. Brownlee did the right thing by posting on X soon after the start to talk about the problem.
“The first thing we’re doing is fixing the problem of too much data being shared, which was brought up correctly.” To be honest, we would never ask for your location, browsing data, or anything else like that. The data releases (that everyone is taking screenshots of) are probably too broad, and are mostly based on what ad networks say. “Working to fix that right away,” he said.
He also said that he would cut down on the number of ads in the free version of the app.
Even though Panels is free, you can still get cool new wallpapers from it. But the lower-resolution pictures don’t look good unless you use Apple’s filters, and I can’t see why someone would pay for a Spotify account to get around that.
Also Read: You Can Now Ask Youtube to Get Rid of Ai-made Videos That Use Your Voice or Face
“Getting feedback from a lot of people right away is a cool part of building in public,” Brownlee wrote. “Almost the same as posting a video on YouTube.”
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