Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD, faced backlash over his new wallpaper app, Panels, due to its high subscription cost ($49.99/year) and concerns over excessive data permissions.

Brownlee acknowledged user feedback, promising to adjust ad frequency for free users and address privacy concerns, clarifying that the app’s data disclosures were broader than intended.

The app, which offers curated wallpapers and shares profits with artists, aims to improve over time, despite criticisms of its design and monetization approach.

  • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
    47·
    2 months ago

    Marques has a decent chunk of his fan base that’s…kinda rich? That’s the only thing that can explain why he reviews supercars and expects people to use their phone without a case. So if he’s directing some of that fan base’s money toward artists, I’m all for it, assuming the profit sharing is reasonable (and I have no reason to believe it’s not).

    I mean, I’m not going to pay that sort of money on a wallpaper (I almost always use photos of family or friends anyway). But if the people who buy it like it, and the people who sell art for it are treated well, you go MKBHD.

    • Fisch@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      8·
      2 months ago

      I use my phone without a case too, phones don’t break that easily. I even dropped it on stone tiles once when I missed my pocket and it only got a few scratches on the side from that.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      31·
      2 months ago

      Im not rich and I use my phone without a case and watch some of those reviews.

      The app is a bad idea with a bad deal for artists.

      • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        2 months ago

        Im not rich and I use my phone without a case

        I guess you could also have fairly sticky hands.

        and watch some of those reviews.

        Yeah, sometimes I do too, if only for the novelty of it. But they’re certainly not for us.

        The app is a bad idea with a bad deal for artists.

        Citation needed. Do you have any data on the app’s profit share structure? Because at the price they’re charging, if they’re passing on a decent share of it to the artists, it sounds like it’s not a bad gig.

        • Squizzy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          2 months ago

          Fifty fifty is what MKB said was the split, which is a predatory figure. Apple charges less and people are up in arms about their predatory practices.

          I dont know what the sticky hands comment means.

          • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            I dont know what the sticky hands comment means.

            I’m not brave enough to use my phone without a case, because I know I’ll drop it. Either you’re braver than me, richer than me, or you have better grip than me.

            Fifty fifty is what MKB said was the split, which is a predatory figure.

            50% of the revenue or 50% of the profit? Because if they’re paying the artists first and footing the bill for hosting the app out of the other 50%, that’s a pretty good deal.

            • Squizzy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 months ago

              I just dont like cases and take the risk. Phones are nicer looking without.

              He didnt specify which would lead me to believe profits. Neither is a good split, he is charging as much as spotify for content he did not create and keeping half.

              • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                2 months ago

                I just dont like cases and take the risk. Phones are nicer looking without.

                No doubt, but I don’t have that kind of cash to burn on the aesthetics.

                Neither is a good split, he is charging as much as spotify for content he did not create and keeping half.

                Hosting and maintaining an application actually has some pretty non-trivial cost associated with it. If it’s half of revenue, then MKBHD actually isn’t taking very much at all.