YouTuber MKBHD (Marques Brownlee), sparked controversy and backlash after launching ‘Panels,’ a subscription-based, HD wallpaper app for phones.

Bro really tried to sell his subscribers a “50$ a year” subscription to a “wallpaper” app.

Interesting points about the “app”:

  • the app has premium and free wallpapers
  • the free wallpapers are only available in sd quality and if you want hd youd have to subscribe
  • in order to unlock the sd quality you have to watch two 30 second ads.
  • theres a wallpaper called “orange” thats just the color orange
  • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    3 months ago

    Respectfully, I’m honestly confused by this why are you paying any amount of money for wallpapers? I’ve never had an issue finding high quality images for my devices, phone or desktop. What exactly is the service doing that makes paying $5 the easier option?

    • Sheridan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      3 months ago

      It’s so cheap that I haven’t given it much critical thought. For me I suppose it’s mainly convenience. The iOS version has some shortcuts and widgets I find convenient for discovering new wallpapers. The Mac version is a little menubar app. I change my wallpapers frequently and I don’t necessarily want to open a website everytime to do that.

      • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        3 months ago

        Well, paying $5 so you don’t have to open a website sounds like a waste to me, even if $5 is a small amount to you. But it’s your money, so you do you I guess. Thanks for the clarification.

      • Amoeba_Girl@awful.systemsEnglish
        3·
        3 months ago

        I really want to go through your finances and see how many subscriptions you don’t need I can reroute to my bank account.