What to know

  • Panels will be removed from app stores and officially sunset on December 31, 2025.
  • Active subscriptions will be cancelled automatically; users will receive refunds. Wallpapers already downloaded stay usable.
  • The app failed to meet growth expectations, and after changes to the development team, Brownlee felt it wasn’t possible to continue toward his original vision.
  • The Panels code will be open-sourced on GitHub in early 2026 — allowing others to build on it if they choose.

Panels, the wallpaper app created by Marques Brownlee (MKBHD), launched in September 2024 as a curated marketplace offering high-quality images from featured artists. It quickly climbed app-store charts, topping the Photos category on both Android and iOS and amassing more than two million wallpaper downloads during its first months. Despite the strong start, long-term growth didn’t meet expectations. According to Brownlee, the app “just wasn’t sustainable,” especially after changes in the development team altered the momentum and made it difficult to realize the app’s original roadmap.

From the beginning, Panels faced notable backlash over pricing. The subscription model launched at $11.99/month or $49.99/year, which many users felt was too steep for a wallpaper service. Complaints expanded to include ads on the free tier, slow content updates, and transparency concerns around data tracking. Although the team eventually introduced a cheaper subscription tier, removed intrusive ads, and allowed HD downloads via ad-supported access, these changes arrived after much of the initial criticism had already cooled user interest.

In his shutdown announcement, Brownlee confirmed that Panels will officially sunset on December 31, 2025. After this date, the app will be removed from both the App Store and Google Play. Existing subscribers will have their plans automatically cancelled, while refunds, either full or prorated, will be issued depending on billing cycles. Importantly, any wallpapers users have already downloaded or purchased will remain available to them even after the app’s closure, though no new downloads or updates will be possible afterwards.

Looking ahead, the Panels project won’t disappear entirely. Brownlee shared that the app’s source code will be open-sourced in early 2026 under the Apache 2.0 license, allowing developers or the community to build new versions, spin-offs, or re-imaginings of the original app. This decision stands out as a transparent way to close a creator-led app while preserving its potential for future use. Analysts note that Panels’ shutdown highlights the difficulty creators face when translating massive audiences into sustainable software products, especially in categories, like wallpapers, where users expect low-cost or free alternatives.