MKBHD’s Panels wallpaper app is shutting down, here’s what’s next

Finding a good, free wallpaper for your Android phone is now very easy. Part of the reason for this is the prevalence of great resources in the form of apps and websites (like ours, which brings you fresh wallpapers every Wednesday). YouTuber MKBHD (Marques Brownlee) also took a shot at distributing wallpapers with his Panels app. It was an ambitious attempt, with some early mistakes, but these were quickly rectified. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Marques has announced that Panels is shutting down.

MKBHD has shared that, after considerable deliberation, he has decided to sunset the Panels app this week. The Panels app will shut down at the end of this month, and all user data will be permanently deleted following the shutdown. After the shutdown, users will receive a pro-rated refund for their active subscriptions — no action is needed from users, although they can request a refund before that.

Once this process is complete, Marques has promised to open-source the Panels app code under the Apache 2.0 license, allowing others to build on what he started.

Since the app has been sunset, users will no longer be able to purchase any Collections from this point forward. However, wallpapers that you’ve already downloaded will remain on your device. Please note that once the app is removed, you will no longer be able to download wallpapers from it, so ensure you’ve downloaded everything beforehand.

MKBHD would frequently be asked to share the wallpaper that he uses on the phones featured in his review videos. Panels initially started as an answer to that, but the vision behind it evolved into becoming a platform that could also support artists and the wallpaper ecosystem and community. The app secured the top spot in the Photos category on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store upon its launch in September 2024. More than two million wallpapers have also been downloaded through Panels.

Panels’ announcement post mentions that the makeup of the development team changed earlier this year. The team tried to bring in collaborators who shared the same passion and vision, but was unable to find the right fit. Rather than keep the app running without any growth towards the shared vision, Marques and his team felt it was best to shut it down with a clean break.

Despite the early controversy, Panels was an ambitious attempt that served a niche. It will have our respect for trying, and the world could use more people who give things a shot.