Panels Wallpapers 9+

I’ve been watching MKBHD for years now and I’m always interested to see what he’s doing. He dropped those Atoms shoes a while back and while they seem mediocre, they generally gave off the vibe they were at least a passionate project. But this app? What are we even doing here man? I still have trouble believing Marques actually wants his name on this. I can’t imagine somebody with such sleek editing and branding could look at this app that looks and feels like it’s from 2016 (derogatory) and say “this represents ME”. Truly bewildering because he has to be smart enough to have anticipated this reaction, right??? I had it installed for a total of 5 minutes and the second I had to truly interact with the UI, I was checked out. I hope this can have a redemption arc, but it was so bad I just kind of don’t care. Still like the content but this feels like a “Watcher” debacle all over again: ruining the goodwill you’ve built with your fans creating something so obviously out of touch it’s comical.

So I have led app dev teams and worked designing user interfaces for apps. This app probably cost at least $50k US to develop. So I get why he's charging $50 a year for it. But I don't think that is a good value for users, who are the most important opinions to listen to. For what it offers, and comparing this to other similar apps, the price is high. Hopefully he can update the pricing to he more in line with the value the app is offering.

If I want 5 premium wallpapers, I would probably subscribe for a month and then cancel. Most users don't want or need to have an annual subscription for this app. Maybe selling wallpaper credits and offering a weekly or monthly subscription would be a better way to monitize this app. Just my thoughts...

As for design, the user interface is a good start, but the level of polish is lacking. It needs to be refined and QA tested more for different devices. I think these issues can be easily fixed, so hopefully it gets better soon.

Full resolution wallpapers behind a paywall? From someone whose entire career has been built on providing rich, high-quality content for free? The irony is hard to ignore.
Here’s the thing: Panels doesn’t feel like a wallpaper app. It’s more of an image-sharing platform, like David Imel pointed out—there’s a gap in the market for one. So maybe that’s what they’re going for? But calling it a wallpaper app is misleading at best.
Rant about UI- Marques has praised apps like Carrot Weather for their fantastic UI choices. So why does this app feel outdated? It’s hard to imagine that was a conscious decision, especially when apps like Backdrops, a truly well-designed wallpaper app, exist right now.
And the images? They don’t feel compelling enough to be used as wallpapers. Plus, hiding the full resolution versions behind a paywall is a letdown. People defending the pricing say app development is expensive, but this is Marques Brownlee we’re talking about—the guy who buys a RED camera just to review phones. Let that sink in.
The app feels half-baked, especially from someone whose standards for content and technology are usually so high.