Russians are complaining that the “Max” messaging app has suddenly disappeared from the App Store
4 June 06:58
Russian users are complaining that the corporate messaging app “Max” (developed by VK) has completely disappeared from the App Store, reports
The app can no longer be found via search, and attempting to access it via a direct link yields a standard Apple notification: “This app is currently unavailable in your country or region”
As reported by Russian propaganda media, citing the developer, “the ‘MAX’ team has sent a request for clarification to Apple and is working on a prompt resolution of the issue.”
Meanwhile, users who have already installed the app are being reassured that it continues to work for them for now.
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However, Russians will no longer be able to update it or download it onto a new iPhone.
It’s worth noting that this is far from the first time the American corporation Apple has removed products from sanctioned Russian developers from its store without warning.
Reference
In Russia, it is positioned as a “national alternative” to foreign platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and WhatsApp.
Following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, Western giants (such as Microsoft and Slack) began massively blocking and deleting corporate accounts of Russian companies and government agencies and restricting access to work-related chat rooms.
“Max” is tasked with transitioning Russian businesses and officials to its own, fully controlled infrastructure, where all correspondence, files, and calls would pass through servers located within the Russian Federation, to which Russian intelligence agencies (FSB) have direct access.
However, despite slogans about “complete independence from the West,” the app was released on the American App Store (Apple), on which it was critically dependent for distribution among iPhone users.
Apple systematically removes apps from all sanctioned banks (Sberbank, Alfa, T-Bank, etc.) and government services. Now the corporate messenger “Max” has been added to this list.
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