On July 16, all applications belonging to the VK holding disappeared… (приложение · макс · пропасть)
On July 16, all applications belonging to the VK holding disappeared from Google Play, with similar removals occurring in App Store earlier in June. The company stated that installed apps continue to function normally and confirmed plans to sell RuStore and discontinue .com domain support.
Consensus
- All applications belonging to VK disappeared from Google Play on July 16.
- Installed versions of the VK applications continue to work without restrictions.
- The removals are linked to sanctions imposed by the European Union against VK and its developer Max.
- Users of Android devices will still receive push notifications for messages, events, and calls in VK and MAX apps.
- VK announced plans to sell RuStore to its management.
Points of divergence
- The removals are likely related to EU sanctions against VK and Max introduced on Monday (July 13). — tvrain
- The Russian government, through Dmitry Peskov, called the EU's sanctions against MAX 'absurd' and described them as having a repressive character. — vm
- VK announced it will no longer support availability of its services in the .com domain. — tvrain
- On July 13, applications such as 'Odnoklassniki', VK Video, VK Messenger, VK Music, and VK Meet disappeared from Apple's App Store in Russia. — vm
Coverage (4 sources)
- 16 VK Apps Disappeared from Google Play — Дождь
- All apps owned by VK have disappeared from Google Play. — РИА Новости (Telegram)
- VK and Max apps have disappeared from Google Play — Дождь
- VK and MAX apps removed from Google Play — Вечерняя Москва