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- Smart MAX: will VK's national messenger be able to repeat the success of Chinese WeChat
Smart MAX: will VK's national messenger be able to repeat the success of Chinese WeChat
The new MAX messenger, released at the end of March in beta testing format, uses machine learning technologies. Registration in any of the social networks is not required to use it. In the future, the developers plan to turn it into a universal service with support for public services and other useful functionality. To improve the quality of calls, media servers were installed in several million-plus cities. Whether the Russian solution will become an analogue of Chinese WeChat and whether it will be able to compete with Telegram is in the Izvestia article.
What is the new MAX messenger?
For calls, the platform team deployed additional media servers in the country, including Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk and Yekaterinburg. The main feature is machine learning technologies for improving the quality of transmitted speech, which are already being used in the beta version. According to the VK press service, the project took about a year to implement from scratch, and the name MAX was chosen with an eye to what the service will become in the future - the company expects that it will justify its abbreviation from the phrase "maximum possibilities" at a distance.
The messaging and calling platform has a roadmap for development. At the same time, according to the authors, the development team will move in the public field from update to update. The application is available in the digital stores App Store, Google Play and RuStore, where it is listed as a product of LLC "Communication Platform". The press service of the MAX confirmed that it is a 100% subsidiary of VK.
A source close to the MAX developers noted that in the future, government and other services should appear on the platform to solve everyday tasks. The same source reported that during the first week of the application's operation, MAX users called several tens of thousands of times.
Another feature of MAX is that the messenger is not connected to any social networks — it does not require an account on VK, Odnoklassniki or other popular social media sites to use it. Analysts at J'son&Partners note the high sound quality and stable MAX connection.
In 2025, VK (including the solutions used in MAX) overtook Telegram in terms of the overall stability index for Android calls — this conclusion is contained in a study by J'son& Partners (available to Izvestia). The participants of the experiment made calls from popular locations (in a cafe, subway, elevator, car and crossing) and recorded the results in the protocol. As a result, the stability of the call connection in the domestic solution in all the listed locations, except for cafes, turned out to be several points higher than in Telegram.
To date, the platform has added support for services such as the YCLIENTS online recording system and the VK BugBounty program, which allows security researchers to find vulnerabilities in exchange for monetary rewards. In the future, the developers plan to add two-factor authorization. The problem of cybercriminals, who are actively present in Telegram and other popular messengers, will be dealt with using their own technologies and privacy settings. Currently, in the beta version that has been tested, you can limit the number of people who can write, call, or add to chats.
MAX in the estimates of various experts
As Yaroslav Seliverstov, head of the AI Research Department at 2035 University, notes, AI does play a key role in the case of MAX: machine learning optimizes data transmission by adjusting the quality to the network bandwidth. For example, with a weak LTE signal, the system reduces the video bitrate, while maintaining the smoothness of the image, or filters noise in the audio. Distributed media servers in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and other million-plus cities reduce delays, which is confirmed by tests. In the beta version, calls remained stable even at 20% battery charge.
— But there are nuances. First, AI processing requires computing resources: older smartphones may overheat or slow down. Secondly, the technology has not yet been tested in conditions of massive load — for example, servers may not be able to handle traffic during peak hours. Yes, this is a step forward, but the long—term benefits will be clear after scaling," the specialist concluded.
In most East Asian countries, there has been a single window for access to services and services used by more than 80% of the population for more than 10 years. The most famous one, WeChat— once started with similar functionality as MAX. To implement a similar concept, a new Russian product will need to conclude hundreds of product deals and partnerships, said Vasily Kashin, associate professor at the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
— Considering that the application is currently in beta testing, MAX meets the formed expectations. With continued development and financing, the application can become a national messenger, the expert believes. — VK is not the first company planning to create a large platform through which people can not only communicate, but also make purchases, use government, educational services or transfer money. For example, in China it is WeChat, in Japan it is Line, in Vietnam it is Zalo, and in South Korea it is Talk.
MAX from VK can become an analogue of the popular WeChat application in China. If the platform exits beta, it will be used by government agencies and large companies for secure data exchange. But so far, this application is missing from the Russian software registry, which prevents its integration with Gosuslugi and makes it difficult for full-scale use in various organizations, said Alexey Gorelkin, Phishman CEO and information security expert.
The beta version of the app demonstrates high performance, high-quality audio and video calls even with a weak Internet connection, and a user-friendly interface familiar to VK users. At the same time, the issue of application security is important, given the integration of payment functions, says Igor Bederov, head of the Information and Analytical research department at T. Hunter.
The MAX press service said that they use their own solutions to protect user data and protocols recognized in the industry as a standard, all data is stored on Russian servers.
— With this development, VK is trying to take a step towards WeChat, this is the Chinese approach, when a user receives all services from a messenger, that is, you can immediately make an appointment with one of the users and book a table right away and call a taxi from there, that is, a superapp, where everything is available and about Everyone. Now the messenger, of course, has integrated VK services at the highest level: calls and video calls. Plus, I was pleased with the download speed of the videos, unlike YouTube and even Rutube," explained Vladimir Zykov, director of the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers.
According to the expert of the Neuronet Infrastructure Center According to Dmitry Lapin, the lack of mention of end-to-end encryption of voice calls will scare off potential users who are accustomed to such protection. At the same time, the specialist personally tested the platform and noted the high quality of voice and video calls.
Daniil Arzhakov, a lecturer at the Faculty of Gaming Industry and Esports at Synergy University, noted that VK's ambitious plans to integrate government services and its own payment system can turn MAX into a truly useful tool for solving everyday tasks, especially given the reduced competition in the messenger market after Viber was blocked. Provided that the project is implemented correctly, it has good prospects for It can become a catalyst for the growth of the entire segment of communication applications in Russia.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
