Marques Brownlee says “I know what you’re saying” after fans criticize his new wallpaper app

YouTuber Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, responded to the backlash against the release of a new wallpaper app called “Panels.” Tuesday PostBrownlee said he intends to address user concerns about pricing and “excessive data disclosure.”

Brownlee has a new app iPhone 16 review On Monday, his comments about the new iPhone were quickly overshadowed by a flurry of criticism about one of his biggest videos of the year, the Panels app. “Making a video publicly means you get a ton of instant feedback, which is pretty amazing. It’s almost like putting out a YouTube video,” Brownlee said.

Panels is supposed to offer access to a curated selection of “stunning full-resolution wallpapers” by digital artists, but fans aren’t happy with the subscription that comes with it. A Panels Plus subscription costs $49.99 per year (or $11.99 per month) and lets you download all the wallpapers in the app in high resolution. A more limited selection of wallpapers is accessible for free, but can only be downloaded in standard resolution and requires watching two ads first.

“As for the price, we understand! It’s our own personal challenge to strive to provide that kind of value for the premium version,” Brownlee said. I said it with X“We also plan to reduce the frequency of ads during the free trial.”

Panels iOS users have also raised privacy concerns about the app. Request that your activity be tracked Same for other websites and apps Using location dataBrownlee said the data disclosures were “probably too broad” and that “we never actually ask for your location or your internet history or anything like that,” and that the panel was working to resolve the issues. The Verge Brownlee was contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.

After more than a decade as a reviewer, Brownlee is increasingly focusing on developing her own products. She joined accessories maker Ridge as chief creative partner, Sneaker collaborations In Atoms. Brownlee says The new wallpaper app is being built “from the ground up” and will split profits 50/50 with the digital artists featured in the app. Brownlee says the app “starts out as a wallpaper app right now,” but promises it will “steadily improve over time.”