Max (app)

Max (stylized in all uppercase;, , from the word "maximum"[1]) is a Russian messenger and e-commerce app released by VK in 2025. Comparable to the Chinese platform WeChat, the Max universal mobile application is developed for the purposes of, in addition to providing a social network, allowing access to online government services, verifying identity through a digital ID, electronically signing documents, and making payments.[2] It has been promoted by the Russian government as a "national messenger".[3]

To register in the messenger, a valid mobile phone number from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, or Uzbekistan is required.[4][5]

The messenger is managed by Communication Platform LLC, which is a subsidiary of VK.[6] As of September 2025, the Max app is required to be pre-installed on all smartphones sold in Russia, while the Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor imposes restrictions on the use of other messenger applications.[7]

History

In May 2022, a VK messenger app was released, but struggled to gain audience versus already used foreign messaging software. The creation of an alternative was a key objective, even at the cost of affecting numerous users. A project also with commercial ambitions, a more user-friendly super application for Russian users.[8][9]

In 2024, the VK company began developing a new messenger.[10] On 25 March 2025, VK representatives told Vedomosti about the development of a beta version of Max, outlining the messaging features, built-in payment systems for VTB Bank and Alfa-Bank and business tools for creating mini-apps and chatbots. The messenger was positioned to be independent from the VK app.[11][12][2] A beta build of the mobile app became available for download the following day.

On 4 June 2025, at a meeting between Vladimir Putin and members of the Russian Government, Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadaev stated that Max is planned to be developed into an official national Russian messenger, similar to national messengers of other countries, naming Line (Japan), KakaoTalk (South Korea), Zalo (Vietnam) and WeChat (China) as examples.[13]

On 24 June 2025, the federal law "On the creation of a multifunctional information exchange service" was published, requiring Max to come pre-installed on officially released mobile devices in Russia after 1 September.[14][15] On 25 June, senator Olga Yepifanova announced that Gosuslugi is going to be integrated in Max.[16] In June, the VK company announced a bug bounty program with a ₽5m (~US$62000) reward for reporting security exploits in the app.[17]

On 15 July 2025, the app was promoted by the Russian government as the "national messenger".[3]

On 30 July 2025, St. Petersburg State University is working on a unified digital ecosystem for the workplace, organises processes as it has the functionality of corporate mail with an integrated calendar and contacts, an audio conferences, meeting planning tools, task management, and a convenient cloud for storing files with support for online document editing.[18] As of September 2025, the Max app has been pre-installed on all smartphones sold in Russia, while the Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor is imposing restrictions of the use of WhatsApp and Telegram.[7][19]

On 16 March 2026, English language support was added to the application.[20][21]

Security and privacy issues

The Max messenger, associated with VK and integrated with Russian government services such as Gosuslugi, has faced criticism over its handling of user data and choice of technical components. Reports indicate that the application collects and stores user metadata, including IP addresses, contact lists, and activity timestamps, with its privacy policy allowing potential transfer of this data to third parties, including state authorities. It has also been noted that the software incorporates multiple third-party open-source libraries originating from countries officially designated by Russia as "unfriendly", and that some telemetry traffic is directed to foreign servers.[22]

Security researchers have also documented social-engineering schemes targeting MAX users. In these cases, attackers impersonate technical support staff and offer "activation of protection" services, attempting to trick victims into revealing SMS verification codes. Such codes can then be used to gain unauthorized access to linked accounts on government service portals.[23]

Meanwhile, a joint hacking team formed by Ukraine and the United Kingdom also infiltrated this software in an attempt to extract critical information from it, or disrupt and interfere with transactions.[24]

Under Russian law Max is legally required to integrate with SORM, and is also intended and designed to centralize digital communications in Russia. It has been noted that platform would give the Federal Security Service of Russia and in effect the Russian government major backdoor access to private conversations, financial transactions, and geolocation data of Russian users of the app.[25]

After Telegram was banned, Moscow attempted to promote the app's use within the military, but officers resisted the move because they did not want the Federal Security Service to monitor their communications.[26]

Features

As of June 2025, Max features include personal and group chat, voice messaging, calls, video calling, transferring files up to 4 gigabytes, stickers, emoji, tools for creating chatbots and mini-apps, and a neural network called GigaChat.[27] The messenger has implemented the ability to transfer money between users via the Faster Payment System of the Bank of Russia.[28]

Availability

Usage

Technical details

Max messenger is written in Node.js, Kotlin, Swift, Objective-C, TypeScript, C++ and Java.[40][41] It works on the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS operating systems.[42] In addition to the mobile application, the messenger is available as a web application (web.max.ru) and a desktop client.[40]

According to research of the source code, the messenger borrows code fragments from the previous VK messenger TamTam.[43][44][45][46]

External links

• Messenger channel on the video hosting VK Video (in Russian)