Apple continues to purge Russian services from the App Store. First, the MAX messenger disappeared, and on June 25, the entire VK ecosystem was hit. For iPhone owners, this is a significant problem, while Android users can breathe easy. This is far from the first situation where our services live more peacefully on Android than on iOS, along with convenient digital tools like Sber ID. Let’s figure out what to do after VK’s removal from the App Store.
Russians are being urged to switch to Android at the highest level
Which VK Apps Were Removed from the App Store
The list is impressive. VK apps were removed from the App Store almost entirely: VKontakte, VK Messenger, VK Music, VK Video, Dzen, Odnoklassniki, VK Dating, as well as Mail.ru Mail, Mail Cloud, VK Play, and the educational platform Skillbox.
The services can no longer be found in search, and when following a direct link, the store reports that the download is unavailable. The main event is that following the others, VKontakte disappeared from the App Store as well. Already installed apps continue to work, but updating them through the Apple store is no longer possible.
What the Government and VK Said
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on the situation. According to him, the removal of major Russian apps raises questions about the reliability of the App Store, and agencies intend to request an explanation from Apple.
Active users of VK services can be advised to switch to Android, Russian systems, or available alternatives if the needed apps can no longer be downloaded through the App Store.
The Ministry of Digital Development followed up by contacting the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) with a request to review the situation. The ministry called Apple’s actions politically motivated and emphasized that they had not received any reasoned position from the company regarding the grounds for restricting the services.
We believe that the removal of apps is a manifestation of unfair competition and is related to protecting the interests of foreign platforms that are being displaced by Russian apps. At the same time, the company itself does not comply with direct legislative requirements to implement a default search engine selection window and pre-install a Russian app store on its devices.
VK itself called the removal a unilateral decision by Apple without any warning and emphasized that the company has never been under sanctions. Earlier, Apple similarly removed the MAX messenger from the store.
What the App Removal Means for iPhone Owners
There is an unpleasant nuance here that many people are unaware of. When an app disappears from the App Store, the system revokes the token through which notifications are delivered. In practice, this means that VK push notifications on iPhone will simply stop arriving, and you risk missing a message or call. Plus, reinstalling or updating the service is no longer possible. If the app is important to you, don’t delete it from your device and disable the automatic deletion of unused apps in your iPhone settings.
People joke online that VK clones like these will appear soon
As a temporary solution, web versions of the services or a website shortcut on the home screen will work.
Why VK Apps Are Still Available on Android
This is where the main advantage of the green robot lies. On Android, all these services haven’t gone anywhere: VK apps in RuStore, Google Play, and other stores are available as usual. You can freely install, update, and reinstall them at any time, and notifications work normally without any revoked tokens.
There are no problems with VK on Android
That’s exactly why the advice to switch to Android in Russia in this situation has a very practical basis, not just loud words.
If you’re on an iPhone, protect your already installed apps — don’t delete them and use web versions as a backup. If you’re on Android, everything works as normal and there’s nothing to worry about. Alternative app stores are worth keeping handy in any case, as the story with MAX and VK shows that this could happen again. So choosing a platform today is largely a matter of stable access to the services you need.
