C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Panels is introducing a new $2/mo subscription tier.
- Annoying ads are being removed from the wallpaper feed, but you can choose to watch short ads to unlock HD content.
- Permissions issues have also been sorted, and the app has reined in its access to that which is necessary.
Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) has got to be one of the most respected and beloved voices in mobile tech — so it was a bit of a rude awakening a couple weeks back when the internet collectively turned on him in the wake of the release of his subscription-based wallpaper app, Panels, for iOS and Android. Rather than pushing back against that tide, Brownlee was quick to publicly embrace the criticism, and promised to do better. In a new video out today, the creator outlines what’s changing for Panels going forward.
Slapping a new wallpaper on your phone can be a quick, fun way to make it feel fresh, so we understand the desire to always have access to hot new designs — that’s exactly why we come through every week with our own Wallpaper Wednesday, hooking you up with some great options to try. While you get those at Android Authority for free, Brownlee decided to charge $12/month or $50/year for full access to Panel’s wallpapers.
That pricing probably would have been contentious enough, but concerns over the broad, privacy-impacting permissions the app requested really helped solidify the pushback against Panels.
In his latest video, Brownlee takes a step back and starts by trying to explain why he even began this project in the first place. One of the first missteps he acknowledges is that Panels should have always been a free app, first and foremost. Going forward, you’ll be able to browse 1080p wallpapers for free without all the annoying ads from before — higher-res options can also be unlocked by choosing to watch an ad.
Rather not even see that kind of ad? Panels Plus subscriptions will now be available in two tiers, and for just $2/month you can get all those full-res wallpapers without the ads. In addition to those one-off wallpapers, the app will feature collections of wallpapers from individual artists, available for purchase à la carte for a few bucks. But if you’d rather just unlock all collections at once, the higher-tier Panels Plus unlimited subscription is what you’ll want, and this one matches the old $12/month pricing, or $50 annually.
As for permissions and privacy, Brownlee admits that his team erred on the side of telling app stores that Panels would potentially be interested in a lot more access than the app actually uses at the moment, and it really didn’t need to shoot this broadly. That’s reportedly now being fixed.
Brownlee also goes over a lot of criticism he’s heard about the app itself, just as a piece of software, and changes are already being made — like to the way it now flags content generated or manipulated with the help of AI. If you’re a fan of Marques, you’ll want to give the whole thing a watch, because it seems clear he really cares here and is listening to your thoughts about how to make Panels better.
What do you think about this whole controversy? Has MKBHD finally sorted everything out, or are you still harboring bad feelings? Let us know in the comments.
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