Mkbhd’s Wallpaper App Panels Is Shutting Down

Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, aliases MKBHD, announced connected Monday that his telephone wallpaper app Panels is shutting down.

Fans had precocious hopes for Brownlee’s foray into app development, fixed his estimation arsenic an eagle-eyed tech reviewer who has amassed much than 20 cardinal followers connected YouTube. He’s truthful influential that immoderate blamed his commentary connected Humane AI and Fisker for those companies’ eventual failures (we deliberation nan existent rumor is that you shouldn’t raise $230 million if you person nary product). Yet from nan clip Brownlee launched Panels successful September 2024, nan app struggled to find an assemblage of its own.

“We knew it was niche, but we made mistakes successful making our first app, and ultimately, we weren’t capable to move it into nan imagination I had,” Brownlee said successful an unlisted YouTube video. In a blog post, he added that “the constitution of nan improvement squad changed,” and he was incapable to find nan correct collaborators to turn nan app.

Brownlee was inspired to create Panels because erstwhile he posts video reviews of phones, tablets, and computers, fans ever constituent retired really stunning his wallpapers and fastener screens are. When he first announced the app, he pointed retired that if you type “where does mkbhd…” into Google, 1 of nan first suggestions is “… get his wallpapers.”

Panels collaborated pinch artists to waste distinct, high-resolution wallpapers, which users could entree astatine a costs of $50 per year, aliases $12 per period (the artists sewage a trim of those payments). But Brownlee couldn’t flooded nan situation of trying to create a paying marketplace for thing that consumers are not accustomed to paying for — it’s easier to conscionable propulsion an image from nan internet, aliases return a tiny photograph of your dog.

Thanks to Brownlee’s stature, Panels classed #1 connected nan iOS and Google Play charts for photos apps during its motorboat month. The app couldn’t prolong that momentum.

According to nan app intelligence patient Appfigures, Panels reached astir 900,000 life downloads and $95,000 successful user spending crossed iOS and Android. Last month, nan app only received 3,000 downloads and $500 successful user spending, dipping excessively debased to rank connected U.S. app stores.

Per Panels’ ain disclosure, users downloaded much than 2 cardinal wallpapers from nan app.

Panels will statesman to refund users pinch progressive yearly subscriptions erstwhile nan app officially shuts down connected December 31, 2025. However, Panels’ blog station outlines ways for customers to get their money backmost quicker. After nan app shutdown, Panels says each personification information will beryllium deleted, and nan app codification will beryllium unfastened originated truthful different developers tin build connected it, if they truthful desire.