June 4, 2026
Apple has removed Russia’s state-backed Max messenger from its App Store, the app’s Russian developers said Thursday.
Moscow has for months been pushing Russians to install Max — a super-app that lacks encryption and that critics say could be used to track people.
It has throttled WhatsApp and Telegram, the country’s two largest messengers, and forced civil servants, state companies, schools and government agencies to move their communications onto Max.
“Max is temporarily unavailable for download in the App Store,” the messenger said in a statement on its platform Thursday.
