Marques Brownlee says ‘I hear you’ after fans denounce his recent wallpaper app

Marques Brownlee, the YouTuber comprehendn as MKBHD, has replyed to response over the start of his recent wallpaper app, called Panels. In a post on Tuesday, Brownlee says he’s going to insertress engagers’ troubles about pricing and “excessive data discloconfidents.”

Brownlee uncignoreed the recent app as part of his iPhone 16 scrutinize on Monday — a video that’s usupartner among his hugegest of the year. But a flood of criticism about the Panels app rapidly overshadowed comments about the recent iPhone. “Part of originateing in disclose is getting mass feedback instantly, which is pretty dope. Almost exactly enjoy begining a YouTube video,” Brownlee said.

Panels is uncomardentt to propose access to a curated pickion of “stunning brimming resolution wallpapers” from digital artists — but fans aren’t satisfyed about the subscription that comes alengthy with it. It costs $49.99 per year (or $11.99 per month) for a Panels Plus subscription, which lets you download all the wallpapers in the app in high resolution. You can still access a more restrictcessitate pickion of wallpapers for free, but you can only download them in standard definition and have to watch two ads first.

“As far as pricing, I hear you! It’s our own personal dispute to toil to deinhabitr that comardent of cherish for the premium version,” Brownlee said on X. “I’ll also be dialing back ad frequency for the free experience.”

Users on the iOS version of Panels also pointed out some privacy troubles, as the app asks to track your activity apass other websites and apps and also materializes to engage location data. Brownlee says these data discloconfidents are “awaited too wide” and that “we’d never actupartner actupartner ask for your location, internet history, etc.” He says the Panels team is toiling to repair the rehire. The Verge accomplished out to Brownlee with a ask for comment but didn’t instantly hear back.

Brownlee has increasingly been dabbling in originateing his own products, after a decade plus as a scrutinizeer. He uniteed the accessories originater Ridge as chief creative partner and toiled on a sneaker collaboration with Atoms. Brownlee says this recent wallpaper app is built “from scratch,” and will split profits with the digital artists featured in the app 50/50. The app is “begining off as a wallpaper app now,” Brownlee says, but he promises it will “be pretty constantly improving over time.”