On the evening of June 3, the MAX messenger quietly disappeared from the App Store. No announcement, no warning — the app simply stopped appearing in search results, and a direct link started showing an error. You’d think the disappearance of a national service would have caused a wave of outrage. But if you scroll through the comments under the news, the picture is the opposite: people aren’t upset — they’re rather pleased.
Users on social media are celebrating the removal of MAX from the App Store
What Happened to MAX in the App Store
The app disappeared from the Apple catalog on the evening of June 3 — around nine o’clock Moscow time. First, it stopped showing up in search results, then the direct link started displaying an error saying it was unavailable in the region instead of the download page.
Installing MAX from Apple’s store is no longer possible
Apple later explained its decision to the BBC’s Russian service. The wording was brief: the company complies with sanctions legislation of the countries where it operates. Apple did not specify exactly what sanctions were being referred to.
If MAX is already installed on your iPhone, there’s no need to panic yet. The installed app continues to work — messages are delivered, calls go through. But there’s a catch: after removal from the App Store, iOS revokes the token used for push notifications. In simple terms, notifications no longer come through, and updates shouldn’t be expected. To avoid missing messages, you’ll have to open the app manually.
Downloading MAX is still possible from RuStore, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, and several other stores. Android users have more options. But for iPhone users, Apple has effectively cut off the usual installation path. According to Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadaev’s estimate, the restrictions affected more than 20 million people — that’s at least a quarter of the messenger’s entire audience.
Why iPhone Users Didn’t Like MAX
The most curious thing about this story isn’t the removal itself, but the reaction to it. Under the news articles, you’d expect to see outrage, but instead you read approval. Sympathetic comments are noticeably fewer than gloating ones.
There are several reasons for this sentiment, and they form a clear picture.
- The first is privacy concerns. People have been wary of MAX from the very beginning: too many conversations about access to data, geolocation, and chat history. This didn’t help build trust in the service.
- The second is reputation. The app developed a frankly poor reputation even before its removal. For many, MAX became a symbol not of a convenient messenger, but of a tool imposed “from above.”
- The third reason is precisely the rejection of being forced to use the service. MAX was promoted as a national messenger, added to the list of apps mandatory for pre-installation, while competitors were simultaneously restricted. This approach triggers a backlash: the more insistently people are offered something, the stronger their desire to refuse.
- The fourth is simple habit. The audience has long been using Telegram and WhatsApp, and nobody is rushing to switch their working tools to a new service. Many perceived the removal of MAX from the App Store simply as confirmation of their own choice.
The reaction from officials was the exact opposite: the head of Rostelecom even called Apple enemies of Russia. The contrast with the mood of ordinary users was quite telling.
Is the MAX Messenger Safe for iPhone
Users have questions about MAX’s privacy
It’s worth mentioning separately where the distrust came from. Back in late April 2026, MAX received a “malware” label — assigned by Cloudflare. The label was retracted a day later, but the impression lingered: online, the messenger was increasingly being called a “spyware app.”
It’s important to be careful here. Apple cited sanctions, not surveillance, and directly linking the two would be a stretch. The developers themselves, for what it’s worth, denied the information about spying on VPNs and messengers.
But in users’ perception, all these episodes merged into one lump. And when the app disappeared from the App Store, many saw it not as a technical dispute between Apple and VK, but as a deserved outcome. The story with labels, forced promotion, and blocking of competitors had done its work long before June 3.
Interestingly, this is far from the first such case for VK. In September 2022, Apple had already removed the entire VK ecosystem from the App Store — from VKontakte to VK Music. And the very first disappearance of the social network’s official app happened back in February 2014. So the company has been experiencing pressure from Apple for years.
Will MAX Return to the App Store
The messenger’s team has already sent Apple a request asking for an explanation of the decision and promised to share information on how to use MAX on iPhone. Experts are cautious in their predictions: in their opinion, the matter will most likely be limited to proceedings and demands to address violations, and blocking Apple itself in Russia over this is unlikely.
Tim hints at whether MAX will return or not
The practical takeaway is simple. If MAX is already installed — keep it, the app works, but check messages manually due to the lack of push notifications. If you want to reinstall it on iPhone, the usual route through the App Store is closed, and you’ll need to find workarounds. And if MAX is needed for work, it’s especially worth figuring out alternative options in advance. But if you’ve been using Telegram or WhatsApp all along — essentially nothing has changed for you. Judging by the comments, that’s the majority of people right now.
