by Last month, MKBHD launched its new wallpaper app, but it faced a huge wave of criticism and backlash over its pricing structure and advertising. The popular YouTuber responded to the criticism in a post on X in an attempt to calm angry fans, but it did not have the expected effect.
Part of building in public is getting instant massive feedback, which is pretty awesome. Almost exactly the same as publishing a YouTube video
The first thing we do is fix the excessive data disclosure, as people have rightly pointed out. We would never actually ask for transparency…
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 24, 2024
Now the app has been updated to be more consumer-friendly according to The Verge, but there’s no change in the pricing structure. As many fans have noted, the cost for a wallpaper app is a bit high in an age when high-resolution images can be downloaded directly from Google.
Previously, Panels users had to sign up for $11.99 per month ($49.99 per year) to access full-resolution images. There is a free tier, but at one time users had to watch two ads before downloading standard definition wallpapers. That requirement is now gone; you can download default wallpapers without watching ads.
Panels also went a step further and removed the ads from the wallpaper discovery page and also added more art to the lineup. These changes are steps in the right direction, although pricing is still a major point of contention. If you pay monthly, you spend more than € 90 more per year than with the annual payment. As many fans noted, the entire project feels “dirty” – much more like a cash grab than the quality content people have come to expect from MKBHD.
Of course, it’s no surprise that prices haven’t changed. MKBHD said in its tweet: “It is our own personal challenge to work on delivering that kind of value for the premium version.” It seems clear that he plans to stick with current pricing, but presenting enough value in a wallpaper app to justify the cost is an uphill battle.
