> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://connortumbleson.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # MKBHD & Wallpapers. - URL: https://connortumbleson.com/2024/10/07/mkbhd-wallpapers/ - Published: 2024-10-07T02:30:22.000Z - Updated: 2025-02-04T11:42:08.000Z - Description: MKBHD launches a wallpaper application (Panels) and its a rocky start. - Author: Connor Tumbleson - Tags: Technology ![](https://connortumbleson.com/content/images/2024/09/mkbhd-start-1.png) About a week ago I saw a [tweet](https://x.com/MKBHD/status/1838359406976590101?ref=connortumbleson.com) from Marques (MKBHD) advertising a wallpapers app. For those unaware Marques is a YouTuber who reviews technology and has been doing it for a long time. I trust him on reviewing technology and \~20 million other people watch him do just the same. So when I saw this advertisement for a wallpaper application I was skeptical because I personally don't understand why folks would need more wallpapers than what the stock application provides. I then saw the price tag for premium features: **$12/month** OR **$50/year** This is a guy I respect during tech reviews shelling some application to his followers that had a huge optional price tag for wallpapers. Like I continue to think about this and can't fathom who would think spending a recurring charge on wallpapers is a good idea. Like this price rivals streaming services and these are wallpapers for your phone. I can understand supporting artists and their work, but as I glanced photos of the wallpapers a large majority just felt like instantly generated AI creations so I wasn't convinced. ![](https://connortumbleson.com/content/images/2024/10/panels-privacy-report.png) I then saw folks [online](https://www.reddit.com/r/mkbhd/comments/1frixv8/megathread%5Fmkbhd%5Freleases%5F50yr%5Fpanels%5Fwallpaper/?ref=connortumbleson.com) (Reddit) complaining about the permission requirements for this application and it looked like a serious set of permissions. Though I knew from submitting applications via work that you include one advertising library and all of these tracking permissions come along - unless you strip down your analytics to a bare minimum. So then I started thinking - did MKBHD test his own application? If I tested my own wallpaper application and it requested location permission and more - I'd feel uneasy no matter the financial gain of such data. I mean I lose money monthly on [Leaf](https://connortumbleson.com/2023/04/17/project-leaf/), but it has 0 ads, 0 trackers and provides benefit to Halo players. At this point I thought I was complaining about something when I can simply ignore it, which is true, but I had to dig further. I saw this quote from Marques (MKBHD) that showed the profit split was 50%. > We have a bunch of awesome artists over there that we are splitting profits with 50/50 and there’s already a ton of great collections of art and much more incoming... > [https://beebom.com/mkbhds-panels-wallpaper-app/](https://beebom.com/mkbhds-panels-wallpaper-app/?ref=connortumbleson.com) It just seemed so odd to me. The app stores (Apple/Google) generally take 30% of all in-app purchases, but this profit share was 50/50\. If you consider other services like Spotify or Etsy it ranges from 6% to 30%. So the infrastructure to host some images for download seemed like a relatively cheap cost per user, so the 50% cut seemed high. So then I peeked the [terms](https://app.termly.io/policy-viewer/policy.html?policyUUID=c66ff611-4613-482d-bae5-d6cdb362d1c6&ref=connortumbleson.com) / [privacy](https://app.termly.io/policy-viewer/policy.html?policyUUID=ac8195d8-fe69-4d17-9420-08be363bdc13&ref=connortumbleson.com) and it seemed like a ton of text for a simple application. ![](https://connortumbleson.com/content/images/2024/10/tos.png) However, I started thinking about the regulation around a marketplace and the legal department that may surround a highly popular YouTuber and it seemed at that point like a normal amount of text. So at this point I was ready to just ignore this and call it a day, until I spotted a GitHub repository that had a bit of fun. ``` /$$ /$$ /$$ /$$ /$$$$$$$ /$$$$$$ /$$$$$$$ | $$$ /$$$| $$ /$$/| $$__ $$ /$$__ $$| $$__ $$ | $$$$ /$$$$| $$ /$$/ | $$ \ $$| $$ \__/| $$ \ $$ | $$ $$/$$ $$| $$$$$/ | $$$$$$$ | $$$$$$ | $$ | $$ | $$ $$$| $$| $$ $$ | $$__ $$ \____ $$| $$ | $$ | $$\ $ | $$| $$\ $$ | $$ \ $$ /$$ \ $$| $$ | $$ | $$ \/ | $$| $$ \ $$| $$$$$$$/| $$$$$$/| $$$$$$$/ |__/ |__/|__/ \__/|_______/ \______/ |_______/ Because selling out is bad ``` source redacted due to arguable theft. It seemed this researcher discovered that the API in the application had no authentication between free/premium wallpapers. So they just provided a script that downloaded every single wallpaper from the application for free instantly. Now I can't really support that behavior, but I can sure confirm it. ![](https://connortumbleson.com/content/images/2024/10/api-leak.png) All wallpapers easily accessible. So I started just summarizing this and it felt just sour. - An ad/privacy-invasive application for the "free usage". - An insane cost ($12/month or $50/year) for premium wallpapers. - A marketplace chuck full of AI images. - An application with no security on endpoints. - An application full of ads for every single action. The good news I can just ignore the application, however prior to ignoring it wouldn't be fair to leave out the updates and response to this negative feedback. ![](https://connortumbleson.com/content/images/2024/10/recap_1.png) ![](https://connortumbleson.com/content/images/2024/10/recap_2.png) It seems MKBHD is trying to course correct after a rocky launch of a product and the updates promised are being delivered one by one. I'm not interested in a wallpaper app and my journey investigating this application is over. The app may thrive or fail - I just won't know it.