MKBHD's wallpaper app Panels is shutting down(techcrunch.com)

8 pointsby coloneltcb2 months ago3 comments

hshdhdhj44442 months ago
> Panels will begin to refund users with active annual subscriptions when the app officially shuts down on December 31, 2025. However, Panels’ blog post outlines ways for customers to get their money back quicker. After the app shutdown, Panels says all user data will be deleted, and the app code will be open sourced so other developers can build on it, if they so desire.
As far as I can tell this looks like one of the best “shutdown” processes I’ve seen.
It’s also helped by the fact that no one depends on wallpapers. But allowing people to get refunds immediately and open sourcin the code seems like the best approach for an app of this kind.
JojoFatsani2 months ago
Well wallpaper is a more tangible product than crypto at least
- patmorgan232 months ago
  They're digital wall papers i.e. background images
  - nom2 months ago
    Actual rolls of wall paper would probably sell better.
    benoau2 months ago
    Yeah but the project margin on that is going to be negligible, whereas selling someone access to a jpeg...
AuthAuth2 months ago
Thats insane. You're telling me 230million and 90k income first year isnt enough to sustain an app that hosts mobile phone wallpapers. Wow what a scam.
- benoau2 months ago
  He did not raise $230m for a wallpaper app, that is referring to Humane raising $230m and their failure supposedly being MKBHD's fault.
  > He’s so influential that some blamed his commentary on Humane AI and Fisker for those companies’ eventual failures. (We think the real issue is that you shouldn’t raise $230 million if you have no product.)
  - biglyburrito2 months ago
    ^^^ this. Here's the article on the $230m that Humane raised:
    https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/08/humane-the-secretive-ai-st...
    "A startup founded by ex-Apple design and engineering team Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, Humane, today raised another $100 million to build what it calls an “integrated device and cloud services platform” for AI.
    Humane’s work is shrouded in mystery. But its latest round of funding, a Series C, attracted a laundry list of notable investors, including Kindred Ventures (which led the round), SK Networks, LG Technology Ventures, Microsoft, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Tiger Global, Qualcomm Ventures and OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman.
    To date, Humane has raised $230 million from existing and previous investors, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Its workforce has grown correspondingly larger, now numbering exactly 200 employees."