Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, is a well-liked tech YouTuber who focuses closely on cell content material. He simply launched a brand new wallpaper app referred to as Panels for iOS and Android that options actual artists, not AI. However there’s an issue: the app is getting demolished on social media.
Brownlee first announced the app on X. On the time of writing, the put up (a Tweet? Xeet? Who is aware of anymore?) has 1.6K feedback, over 1.7K reposts, and over 13K likes. Regardless of this, the sentiment within the remark part is much from optimistic.
One of many first replies to the put up comes from Quinn Nelson, in any other case often called SnazzyLabs — one other widespread YouTuber. He points out that the Panels app requests a curious variety of permissions that it doesn’t want, together with:
- Location
- Utilization Information
- Diagnostics
- Identifiers
- Purchases
- Contact Information
- Search Historical past
SnazzyLabs framed his suggestions in a well mannered approach. Many others customers didn’t. One consumer stated, “I haven’t seen MKBHD getting roasted this dangerous, ever.”
Panels prices a $50 per yr subscription payment for premium entry to its library of wallpapers, and far of the discontent stems from the excessive value. One commenter even said that MKBHD “graduated from the Apple College of Pricing.”
Different followers have accused Brownlee of being out of contact attributable to his fame and wealth. Nonetheless extra have raised privateness considerations over the variety of permissions the app requests. The app itself is riddled with adverts, even after paying the subscription.
According to one post, the Panels app is only a repackaged model of an older wallpaper app with Brownlee’s branding on it.
YouTubers typically break free from YouTube and broaden their enterprise ventures, and that is an fascinating approach for Brownlee to proceed — however it’s simple to inform that it’s not a profitable enterprise. Eradicating the adverts, decreasing the fee, and eliminating most of the permissions the app wants is step one he must take to show the ship round.
MKBHD responded to these criticisms in one other put up, thanking his followers for the suggestions and promising to repair the “extreme knowledge disclosures.” He addresses the pricing considerations, however the phrasing of his response suggests it is going to stay at $50 whereas he works “to ship that form of worth.” Nonetheless, free customers will probably see a discount within the advert frequency.
