Russians Split Over State-Backed 'Max' App as WhatsApp Features Are Curtailed

A new messaging platform called Max, developed by Russian social network VK and promoted by authorities as a homegrown "super app," has won praise from officials but met with mixed reactions on the streets of Moscow.

Promoted as a one-stop service for everything from accessing government services to ordering food, Max has been compared to China’s WeChat. The Kremlin has signaled strong support: manufacturers were ordered to pre-install Max on all new phones and tablets from Sept. 1, while calling features on rival foreign apps were restricted in August — a move critics say is intended to push users toward the domestic platform.

Security and surveillance concerns

Officials argue that Max will improve digital sovereignty by reducing reliance on platforms that store data abroad. But privacy and human rights advocates warn that Max does not use end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and could therefore be repurposed as a powerful surveillance tool.

WhatsApp, by contrast, uses end-to-end encryption: messages are scrambled on the sender’s device and can only be read by the intended recipient. The company says messages may be stored temporarily on Meta’s servers while in transit but are deleted after delivery, and it refuses to hand over message content to governments. WhatsApp says it serves almost 100 million users in Russia.

Voices from Moscow

Public reaction in Moscow is divided. Some users, required by employers to install Max, remain skeptical about privacy and the risk of losing message histories and client contacts if forced to switch platforms.

"I don't trust it much," said Ekaterina, a 39-year-old doctor who declined to give her surname. "My employer required the app for work, but I still use WhatsApp for personal messages — I have many clients on it and don't want to lose that history."

"The situation is mixed," said 33-year-old Andrei Ivanov. He worries that information on WhatsApp could be 'stolen by other countries,' yet finds the app convenient and views the pressure to switch as a restriction of freedoms.

Others are less concerned. "I understand that everything created abroad is now a threat to us," said 67-year-old pensioner Sergei Abramov, who would not be troubled if WhatsApp were shut down. Maria Isakova, a 36-year-old designer, said Russians are adaptable: "There are other messengers and alternatives to switch to. I don't see any issues."

What happens next

Regulator Roskomnadzor has said it was considering a full ban on WhatsApp and has already blocked its calling features. If authorities move further to limit or block foreign platforms, millions of users could be nudged or forced to migrate to domestic services such as Max — raising ongoing questions about privacy, data security, and the balance between national control and personal freedoms.