Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, is the de facto king of technology on YouTube. With over 19 million subscribers, his tech reviews pull in millions of views and even have the power to make whole companies quake. Weeks after his notorious review of Humane’s AI pin, which called it the “worst product” he had ever reviewed, the company tried to sell itself (though it isn’t fair to entirely blame MKBHD since the product was pretty lackluster).
But now Brownlee is on the opposite side of the backlash after he announced a new app on Monday. The app, which is called Panels, offers a curated list of wallpapers from real artists, available for download on Android and iOS. Standard-definition pictures can be downloaded by watching ads but HD content requires a $50 a year or $12 a month subscription to the platform.
Users on social media were quick to tear the wallpaper app apart, criticizing the app’s data sharing permission settings, high price, and lack of market for a wallpaper app. More tech-savvy users noted that the wallpapers are actually held in the app when you download it, so it’s easy to just circumvent the fee and download it all yourself.
I downloaded the app and tinkered with it for a bit, and it does feel smooth to use. It felt a bit odd that the app needed my location data, which is a criticism others online have shared. The buttons are flashy and click with ease, but there really isn’t a lot to do. I downloaded a single shot of a city skyline covered in fog and ended up changing it back within the hour because I missed the Pokemon jpeg that I had been using for the past year.
After a few hours of online criticism, Brownlee posted a response on X to the haters. “Part of building in public is getting mass feedback immediately, which is pretty dope,” he wrote. Brownlee said his team plans on fixing the strange app permissions and finding a solution to the app’s pricing and copious amounts of ads.
Launching a product as a YouTuber is never easy. You have to put your entire self behind whatever you are selling. Brownlee has one of the most valuable personal brands on YouTube, cornering the market on people who have enough disposable income to splurge on the latest tech and gadgets. The “target market for this is insanely small,” Brownlee tweeted, and he’s aware this isn’t for everyone.
But responding to criticism openly and being willing to make changes is a lot better than what some other creators do. Logan Paul, KSI, and MrBeast recently launched their line of snack boxes Lunchly, and have been spending their time defensively responding to criticism on YouTube, TikTok, and X. Just pick a platform and the comments are full of viewers dunking on their attempts to frame their lunch box as the “healthier” alternative, which is just making things worse.
As creators, it’s important to understand what your audience is saying without being overwhelmed by the criticism. Though Brownlee’s wallpaper app might not be for everyone, it will evolve and find an audience of individuals who want to support artists and have enough disposable income.
