Panels, a New Wallpaper App From Marques Brownlee
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A swing-and-a-miss from MKBHD. Criticism of the app is on two separate levels, but they’re being conflated. Level 1: the app is not good. Level 2: a paid wallpaper app? — LOL, wallpapers are free on Reddit. That second form of criticism — that there shouldn’t even exist a paid wallpaper app — is annoying and depressing, and speaks to how many people do not view original art as being worth paying for. But it also speaks to the breadth of Brownlee’s audience, which I think is more tech-focused than design-focused. Scott Smith, on Mastodon, observed:
It’s really interesting to compare the reaction from the indie iOS community of @Iconfactory’s Wallaroo to the mainstream tech community’s reaction to @mkbhd’s Panels. I know they are not the same by any means but it sheds light on how many people in mainstream tech circles are still flabbergasted at paying for artwork.
So there’s that, and it is what it is. To some extent it can be ignored. If one’s argument is that all wallpapers ought to be free, that’s not a valid starting point for criticism of a paid wallpaper app/service.
