The MAX messenger will be mandatory to install on new smartphones starting September 1.

The mandatory pre-installation of the MAX messenger on all new smartphones in Russia will begin on September 1. This was announced by Alexander Khaminsky, a lawyer and head of the law enforcement center in Moscow and the Moscow Region, on Wednesday, August 6.

"From September 1, 2025, the application will become mandatory for pre-installation on all new smartphones in Russia, as well as a channel for obtaining documents for electronic signature. These provisions are fixed by federal law," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

He explained that the new messenger has an interface similar to Telegram and WhatsApp (owned by Meta, the organization is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). In addition to the standard functions for correspondence and calls, Public Services are integrated into MAX, as well as a digital signature.

"Its integration with government services will simplify everyday tasks: paying fines, calling a taxi, and educational chats," Khaminsky explained.

A number of financial transactions can be performed through the messenger. The GigaChat neural network is also embedded in it.

However, as the lawyer noted, there remains one serious disadvantage — problems with confidentiality. So, the messenger has information about the IP addresses and location data of users, and the MAX policy allows you to transfer this data to government agencies.

"End-to-end encryption, unlike WhatsApp or Signal, has not yet been implemented — communication channel protection is used, which leaves data vulnerable on servers," Khaminsky said.

According to the lawyer, the messenger will definitely turn out to be a significant element of the digital ecosystem, but its popularity and the number of users will depend on solving privacy problems.

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Earlier, on July 14, it was reported that the MAX messenger began testing channels, among which Izvestia, REN TV and Channel Five are available. Users can already subscribe and leave a reaction, and the commenting feature will appear later.

Prior to that, on June 30, the service's press service reported that the first million users had signed up for the MAX platform. The largest number of users is located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Krasnodar. It is noted that of the total number of users, the mobile version of Android accounts for 75%, and iOS - 23%.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.