A Chinese mobile app with a morbid name has gone viral, gaining traction with people grappling with the realities of living alone.
Despite its controversial name, Are You Dead? has topped the paid apps chart on China’s Apple App Store, risen to eighth place globally and reached 12th in Australia.
The app requires users to complete a daily check-in and automatically sends an email to a nominated emergency contact if two consecutive check-ins are missed.
Marketed by its developers as “a lightweight safety tool crafted for solo dwellers”, the app – known internationally as Demumu – is intended to provide reassurance to people living alone through basic monitoring and emergency alerts.
“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 description says.
“Alone but not lonely, safety by your side.”
First released as a free app in June last year, the service has since introduced a fee of 8 yuan (about $1.70) on China’s Apple App Store, with developers citing rising costs such as server maintenance and messaging services.
In Australia, the app is priced at $1.99 through Apple.
In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, the developers said the app was created by a three-person team born between 1995 and 1999, who were unprepared for the rapid surge in attention and downloads.
One of the developers, surnamed Lv, told Guangzhou Daily that all three team members work full-time jobs and collaborated online on the app as a side project.
Lv said the idea originated from online discussions about the need for a tool to check in on people living alone, with the team recognising the demand and completing development within a month.
The app has prompted mixed reactions online, with some users praising it as a practical safety measure, while others have criticised its blunt name as distressing.
In China, death is traditionally regarded as a taboo subject and is often avoided in everyday language, making the app’s original title particularly confronting for some users.
Following the criticism, the developers announced on Wednesday they would change the app’s Chinese name to Demumu.
Addressing claims that the app’s success was driven by its original name, the team said, “Then it will be a good memory.”
The app’s sudden popularity has also renewed broader discussions around loneliness and social isolation, issues that are coming to light in Australia.
A 2023 report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies found more than one in four Australian households (26 per cent) were occupied by a single person, up from 24 per cent in 2016 and 18 per cent in 1981.
Projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate lone-person households are expected to make up between 26 and 28 per cent of all Australian households by 2046.
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