An App Called ‘Are You Dead?’ Is Climbing the Apple Charts

A trending mobile app is making it hard to ignore just how lonely and bleak modern life can feel for some.

The app called “Are You Dead?” is currently the top paid app on China’s Apple App Store. For 8 Chinese yuan ($1.15), users can add an emergency contact to the app and then check in daily by tapping a bright green round button with a cartoon ghost at the center. If a user fails to check in for two consecutive days, the app sends an email to their emergency contact on the third day.

It’s a simple idea, but one meant to offer a sense of safety to the millions of people in China who live alone. The app arrives as the country grapples with an aging population, the long-term effects of its one-child policies, and rapid urbanization that has resulted in more people moving into cities and away from their families.

© Screenshot of Demumu from the App Store.

China is expected to have as many as 200 million one-person households by 2030, with the solo-living rate surpassing 30 percent, China’s state-run Global Times reported, citing real estate research institutions.

On the app’s English-language page, where it goes by the name Demumu, the developers describe it as a “lightweight safety tool crafted for solo dwellers,” designed to make “solitary life more reassuring.”

The page continues, “Whether you’re a solo office worker, a student living away from home, or anyone choosing a solitary lifestyle, Demumu serves as your safety companion.”

The app has caused a frenzy online in China, with people taking to social media to comment on its blunt name and bleak purpose. Some users have even suggested improvements for future versions, such as adding the ability to text emergency contacts instead of emailing them, according to the Global Times.

Others have called for a name change. The title is intentionally tongue-in-cheek, riffing on a popular Chinese food delivery app called “Are You Hungry?,” which sounds like E-le me in Chinese. The app’s own Chinese name, Si-le-ma, sounds very similar, the BBC reported.

“We feel honored and deeply grateful to receive such widespread attention,” the small team of three Gen Z developers, all born after 1995, said in a statement to the Global Times.

The team added that it is looking to update the app with new features, including messaging options and more elderly-friendly features. They are also considering a name change.

China, however, isn’t alone in seeing a surge in people living by themselves. Demumu is currently the sixth top-paid app in Apple’s U.S. rankings, a rise that could be partly driven by Chinese immigrants living abroad.

Still, the broader trend extends far beyond China. According to the most recent U.S. Census data, more than a quarter, 27.6%, of all occupied U.S. households were one-person households in 2020, up from just 7.7% in 1940.