Bans on App Store and Google Play: Demand for Russian services surges

09:58 / 23.07.2026·54·Technology

Restrictions imposed by major Western technology platforms on Russian IT products have led to unexpected results. There is a multiple-fold increase in user demand for downloading applications removed from the App Store and Google Play. This situation demonstrates that bans in the digital market do not always yield the expected effect. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

According to data provided by the Russian publication "Kommersant", after the Max messenger disappeared from the Google Play platform, the number of search queries for it increased 1.8 times within the first three days. Analyses by the "Vordstat" service show that users have actively begun searching for alternative sources using keywords such as "skachat Max" or "download Max".

Popularity following bans

The situation regarding services within the VK ecosystem is similar. After Apple removed a number of popular applications from its App Store, interest in these programs did not fade but, on the contrary, intensified. Specifically, the search index for the "Vkontakte" social network increased by 46 percent, and interest in the "Odnoklassniki" app nearly doubled.

Experts believe the main reason for this sharp increase is user anxiety. As soon as applications are removed from official stores, people try to install them on their devices or preserve installed versions. This artificially inflates the desire to download in general statistics.

List of removed services

As a reminder, the Max messenger was removed from the Google Play store at the beginning of June this year. Shortly after, on June 25, Apple also carried out large-scale "cleaning" on its platform. As a result, the following services were removed from the App Store:

VKontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks;
Dzen and VK Video platforms;
VK Muzika and VK Znakomstva services;
Mail.ru email service and its auxiliary applications.

These processes are also significant for users in Uzbekistan, as there is a substantial audience using VK and Mail.ru services in our country. The absence of apps in official stores may force local users to search for APK files or switch to alternative services (such as Telegram or Gmail).

Currently, Russian IT companies are advising their users to download applications directly from their websites or from alternative app stores like RuStore. However, experts remind users of the necessity to follow cybersecurity rules when downloading software from unofficial sources, noting the risk of various malicious programs (viruses) entering devices.