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Max (app)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Max.
Max
Original authorVK
Developer Russia: VK
Initial releaseMarch 26, 2025; 9 months ago (2025-03-26)
Repository
Written in
Operating system
Available inRussian
Typemobile app and web application
LicenseProprietary
Websitemax.ru

Max (stylized in all uppercase; Russian: Макс, [ˈmaks] MAKS) is a Russian messenger and E-commerce app released by VK in 2025. By analogy with the Chinese platform WeChat, a universal mobile application ("superapp") is being developed on the basis of Max, which allows, in addition to using the functions of the social network, to also receive electronic Gosuslugi, verify identity through a digital ID, use a strengthened electronic signature, and also make payments.[1] It has been promoted by the Russian government as a "national messenger".[2]

To register in the messenger, a valid mobile phone number from the Commonwealth of Independent States is required.[3][4]

The messenger is managed by the "Communication Platform" LLC, which is a subsidiary of VK.[5] 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 on the use of other messenger applications.[6]

History

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In May 2022, a VK messenger app was released, but struggled to gain audience. The country has long relied on foreign message software, making the provision of a viable alternative 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.[7][8]

In 2024, the VK company began developing a new messenger.[9] 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.[10][11][1] 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.[12]

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.[13][14] On 25 June, senator Olga Yepifanova announced that Gosuslugi is going to be integrated in Max.[15] In June, the VK company announced a bug bounty program with a 5,000,000 ₽ (~US$62,000) reward for reporting security exploits in the app.[16]

On 15 July 2025, the app was promoted by the Russian government as the "national messenger".[2]

On 30 July 2025, St. Petersburg State University are 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.[17] 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.[6][18]

On 5 November 2025, registration was expanded to all countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.[3][19]

Security and privacy issues

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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.[20]

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.[21]

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.[22]

Usage

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2025

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In June 2025, the number of new Max messenger user accounts reached 1 million;[23] by July, this figure more than doubled.[24][25]

In October 2025, VK announced that the number of registered Max users had exceeded 40 million, with 500 million calls and 2 billion messages having been sent to date.[26] As of October 27 2025 there are 50 million registered users.[27]

In November 2025, the number of messenger users reached 55 million people[28]. In December 2025, the messenger's audience was 75 million users[29].

The average daily audience reach is 22.5 million people.

It is worth noting that the only source of information about the number of users is the VK press service, which data may be overstated or unreliable[30].

Features

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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.[31] The messenger has implemented the ability to transfer money between users via the Faster Payment System of the Bank of Russia.[32]

Technical details

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Max messenger is written in Node.js, Kotlin, Swift, Objective-C, TypeScript, C++ and Java.[33][34] It works on the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS operating systems.[35] In addition to the mobile application, the messenger is available as a web application (web.max.ru) and a desktop client.[33]

According to research of the source code, the messenger borrows code fragments from the previous VK messenger TamTam.[36][37][38][39]

References

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  1. ^ a b "VK хочет создать аналог китайского суперприложения WeChat. В нем можно будет общаться, заказывать еду и пользоваться госуслугами Звучит неплохо, вот только, скорее всего, нас ждет цензура и слежка за пользователями". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Названа организация, которая будет развивать мессенджер Max" [The organization that will develop the Max messenger has been named]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 15 July 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b "MAX expands its reach: the messenger is now available for communication in the CIS countries". en.rcc.org.ru. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  4. ^ Лопушанский, Антон (14 June 2025). "Общайся свободно, но там, где положено: российский мессенджер MAX". Компьютерра (in Russian). Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  5. ^ "Умный MAX: сможет ли нацмессенджер от VK повторить успех китайского WeChat". Известия. 4 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b Goryashko, Sergey (5 September 2025). "Russia targets WhatsApp and pushes new 'super-app' as internet blackouts grow". BBC News. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  7. ^ "Meet MAX, the 'chilling' new development in Russian social media". ABC News. 22 August 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  8. ^ Sherman, Justin (11 October 2025). "Putin Has a New Tool to Monitor Russians". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  9. ^ Новый, Владислав (Forbes staff) (9 July 2025). "Приложение к государству: как в России создают национальный мессенджер". Forbes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  10. ^ Сизова, Ника (25 March 2025). "VK создает аналог китайского мессенджера с госуслугами и платежами WeChat". Ведомости (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  11. ^ Злобин, Андрей (Forbes staff) (25 March 2025). "VK запустит бета-версию аналогичного китайскому WeChat мессенджера Max". Forbes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  12. ^ "Путин поручил правительству перевести госуслуги в отечественный мессенджер". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). 4 June 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Путин подписал закон о создании национального цифрового сервиса". Ведомости (in Russian). 24 June 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Путин подписал закон о создании национального мессенджера". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). 24 June 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  15. ^ "У приложения Max от VK есть все шансы стать российским национальным мессенджером. Оно работает уже три месяца, но внутри одни баги и нет людей А слежка за пользователями возмутила даже Z-блогеров". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  16. ^ "VK пообещала до 5 млн рублей за найденные в мессенджере Max ошибки". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). 1 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  17. ^ "St. Petersburg State University becomes first in Russia to adopt national messenger MAX". 30 July 2025.
  18. ^ "Russia Pushes a State-Controlled 'Super App' by Sabotaging Its Rivals". 21 October 2025. Archived from the original on 22 October 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  19. ^ "Calls and messages in MAX have become available in the CIS countries". Izvestia. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ "Эх щас бы отечественный мессенджер с функцией слежки и библиотеками из недружественных стран и назвать его MAX…". DTF (in Russian). 29 June 2025. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  21. ^ "Мошенники используют мессенджер Max для кражи аккаунтов на Госуслугах: как работает схема и как защититься". Comss.ru (in Russian). 21 July 2025. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  22. ^ "Russia/Ukraine • Joint GCHQ-SBU op to breach Russia's FSB-controlled social network, MAX". Intelligence Online. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  23. ^ "В мессенджере Max зарегистрировался 1 млн пользователей" [1 million users have registered in the Max messenger]. Vedomosti (in Russian). 30 June 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  24. ^ "VK: в мессенджере Max зарегистрировано более двух миллионов пользователей" [VK: Max messenger has more than two million registered users]. Habr (in Russian). 9 July 2025. (in Russian)
  25. ^ "Пользователям МАХ стали доступны групповые видеозвонки" [Group video calls have become available to MAX users]. VK (in Russian). 9 July 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  26. ^ "В Max зарегистрировались свыше 40 млн пользователей" [Over 40 million users have registered with Max]. TASS (in Russian). Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  27. ^ "More than 50 mn users register on MAX messenger". VK. 27 October 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  28. ^ "Число пользователей мессенджера Max достигло 55 млн человек" [The number of Max messenger users has reached 55 million people]. Vedomosti (in Russian). 14 November 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  29. ^ "Число пользователей платформы MAХ достигло 75 миллионов" [The number of users of the MAX platform has reached 75 million]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 17 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  30. ^ Lemyasova, Lena (15 October 2025). "Госмессенджер Max заявил о 45 млн пользователях. Вероятно, в основном это «мертвые души»" [The Max state messenger announced 45 million users. These are probably mostly «dead souls»]. IStories. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  31. ^ "Общайся свободно, но там, где положено: российский мессенджер MAX". Komputerra. 14 June 2025.
  32. ^ "Что такое Max и когда он станет национальным мессенджером. Объясняем простыми словами". Secret of the Firm. 21 June 2025.
  33. ^ a b "Российский мессенджер MAX — подробный обзор функций и возможностей". SecurityLab.ru. 7 July 2025.
  34. ^ "Как создать бота в мессенджере Max". vverh.digital. 16 June 2025.
  35. ^ "На каких устройствах работает MAX?". max.ru.
  36. ^ artemmaxsup (8 April 2025). "Artifacts rename · max-messenger/max-bot-sdk-java@36482d4". GitHub. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  37. ^ Kirill A. Korinsky [@KirillKorinsky] (5 June 2025). "А красиво сделали ребрендинг чатику TamTam в Max!" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 July 2025 – via Twitter.
  38. ^ Shamble (28 June 2025). "Оказалось, что мессенджер MAX - это слегка доработанный и урезанный по функционалу провальный мессенджер для Одноклассинков "ТамТам" — Shamble на DTF". DTF. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  39. ^ symnok (1 April 2025). "МАХ | новая цифровая платформа, сервисы для решения задач и мессенджер" (in Russian). 4PDA. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
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