MAX and Solovo: staying in touch without an abrupt switch

If the people close to you, your friends or your colleagues already use MAX, there is no need to delete the app you are used to and move every conversation in a single day. Leave your established contacts where they are and try Solovo on one clear scenario: family plans, preparing a trip, a shared to-do list or a regular call.

That way you are not choosing a messenger "once and for all" but looking at real experience. Is it easy for everyone to write, call, receive notifications and find what was agreed? The answer becomes clear after a few ordinary days, not after a long comparison of feature lists.

MAX in a nutshell

MAX is a messenger for private and group chats, voice and video calls, and sending photos, videos and files. It works on smartphones and computers, and there is a web version for signing in from a browser.

Beyond messaging, MAX offers channels, chat bots and mini-apps. That is why people use it not only to talk to their contacts but also to read public material and reach digital services inside the app.

If the people and channels you need are already gathered in MAX, keep it for those tasks. A new chat in Solovo can open alongside it — with no rush to move your history, address book and every group.

MAX works well for ordinary messaging, calls, reading channels and reaching services inside the app. Before an important conversation, check only the essentials: the app is installed for everyone involved, notifications arrive, and calls work on your network.

Why open a second chat

Conversations tend to mix everything at once: news, photos, questions, promises and plans. In Solovo we joined ordinary messaging with shared tasks, so that agreements do not have to be dug out of the message flow every time.

This is especially handy for a small circle that regularly does something together. You discuss a trip, call each other, send tickets and mark what is already packed. The conversation stays alive, and the tasks get a place of their own.

It is best to start with one group and one purpose. For example: "This is where we plan the trip" or "This is where we track family chores." When people understand why a particular chat exists, they settle in without extra instructions.

Everyday communication

Solovo suits private conversations and small groups. Write to someone directly or create a shared chat for family, friends, a couple or a team. In a conversation you can send text, photos, videos, documents, music, voice messages and round video messages.

A quoted reply helps keep the thread when several topics are running at once. You can edit your own text, forward the message that matters and answer a short remark with a reaction. That way "seen" or "agreed" does not turn into a separate chain of messages.

A group can be given a name, a photo and a description, and members can be added or removed. Invitations are sent as a link. If access through an old link is no longer needed, you can revoke it and issue a new one.

Calls instead of a long thread

When a question is easier to settle by voice, start an audio or video call straight from the chat. Group calls are available for shared conversations. During a call you can share your screen, use reactions, raise a hand and see who is speaking.

The history of incoming, outgoing, missed and completed calls stays in the chat. That makes it easy to see who called and to continue the conversation where it began.

Before an important call, check the microphone, camera and notifications on the device you will actually use. Connection quality depends not only on the app but on each participant's network, so a short trial call is worth more than general assurances.

Shared tasks next to the messages

In a family or friends conversation an agreement is easily lost between new replies. In Solovo you can create a shared task, phrase the action and mark it done once the question is closed.

A list like that suits simple joint plans:

• pack for a trip;
• split household chores;
• prepare a gathering or a celebration;
• note down purchases and errands;
• mark what is already done.

Write a task so that it can be done without follow-up questions. "Check the passport expiry date" is clearer than "deal with the documents," and "book a table for Saturday" is more useful than "get ready for the weekend."

Do not turn a shared list into a complex management system. Its job is simpler: lift the agreement out of the message flow and show everyone what is still left to do.

Photos, videos and files

Send photos after a get-together, videos from a trip, documents and music straight into the right conversation. If a file relates to a specific agreement, add a short note. The context makes it easier to find later.

A reaction works for a quick confirmation, a quoted reply for a question about a specific detail. If a shared action depends on a reaction, agree on its meaning in advance: a mark under an address, say, means the person has seen it.

Who Solovo is for

Try Solovo with the people you regularly do more than message: you also call them, exchange files and plan things together. The benefit shows most clearly in four familiar scenarios:

• a family discusses plans, household tasks and trips;
• a couple keeps a private chat and a shared to-do list;
• friends arrange a meet-up, share files and call each other;
• a small team talks things through quickly and notes down short tasks.

If you are helping a relative get set up, walk through the first scenario together. Install the app, open a chat, send a message and make a short call. After that they should be able to repeat the steps without constant prompting.

For work conversations, start with a small group. An ordinary chat does not replace a corporate system on its own: check your organisation's requirements for access, data storage, backups and confidential information beforehand.

How to try it calmly

Do not announce that from now on every conversation must move to a new app. Give the group one clear role and keep the previous messenger for urgent contact and the connections you already have there.

The order can look like this:

• Pick one recurring activity.
• Invite only the people involved in it.
• Send the first message and one file.
• Add a shared task if this scenario needs one.
• Test a call and notifications on everyone's devices.
• After a few days, ask whether everything was easy to find and understand.

Do not copy every remark between two apps: the conversation will quickly fall apart. Let the new chat own one topic. Once that arrangement feels normal, add the next scenario.

Signing up and the first login

Start at solovo.app — the main Solovo site. From there you can go to the app store for your device. Registration uses your phone number with an SMS code for confirmation; button labels may differ slightly between versions.

The first login takes only a few steps:

• Install Solovo and open the app.
• Enter your phone number.
• Confirm with the SMS code and never pass it on to anyone.
• Fill in your profile following the on-screen prompts.
• Decide whether the app needs access to your contacts.
• Open a private chat or follow an invitation into a group.
• Allow notifications, and for calls, access to the microphone and camera.

Access to contacts helps you find people you know faster, but the decision is yours. If you would rather not open your address book yet, use an invite link or another available way to open the conversation you need.

After signing up you can continue from a computer through app.solovo.ru — the Solovo web version. Open it on a trusted device, do not save the session on a shared computer and sign out when you are done.

Protecting access

On a supported device the app can be locked with a passcode or biometrics. That helps when several people use the phone or when chats hold personal photos, documents and family arrangements.

A passcode or biometrics protects the app on one particular device but does not replace ordinary caution. Never share the SMS code, install updates and check who you are sending a group invitation to.

For sensitive data, follow your family's or your organisation's rules. If medical, financial or work information has a designated way of being shared, use it rather than an ordinary chat.

What is available today

For everyday communication you can rely on private and group chats, audio and video calls, sending photos, videos and files, voice messages, reactions, group invitations and shared tasks. That is a working foundation for a first test.

Some capabilities are still being developed. Expense splitting, smart shopping lists, mini-games, secret chats and part of the business tools on the site are marked as features in development. Do not build an important process around them until the action you need has appeared in your version.

Start with what is already there: create one group, send a message, add a file, make a call and write down one shared task. That is enough to tell whether the format suits you and the people close to you.

Two apps, no pressure

MAX can stay the place for familiar contacts, channels, bots and mini-apps. Solovo can open for your close circle, where messaging is tied to calls, files and shared tasks.

Do not rush to move everything at once. If people see messages on time and find the actions they need without prompting, widen the new circle gradually. If something gets in the way, keep the familiar channel and sort out the setting, the device or the network.