A silent wave spreads through Chinese cities, carried by an app named like a question you hope never gets asked. “Are You Dead?” sits blunt on phone screens, asking just one thing every forty-eight hours – tap here if breathing. Failure to respond sets motion behind the scenes; someone picked by the user receives a message suggesting silence may mean trouble. No fanfare follows the design, only function shaped around absence.
Back in May, the app came out without much notice. Lately though, things changed fast – users under thirty in urban China started sharing it like crazy. Right now, no other paid app in the nation pulls more downloads.
Ahead of every decade, more people in China live alone. Numbers might hit 200 million within ten years, say reports from Global Times. Workers at desks all day, learners far from family, even those choosing quiet nights solo – they shape who the app serves. Its core users emerge where isolation meets routine.
One user commented on social media: “People who live alone need something like this – introverts, those with depression, the unemployed, anyone in a vulnerable situation.” Another added, “There’s a fear that people living alone might die unnoticed. I sometimes wonder, if I died alone, who would take care of my body?”
Around 100 kilometers separate Wilson Hou from his family, making daily check-ins tough. Living in Beijing for work, he often spends nights at his rental while projects run. The idea that nobody might notice if things went wrong stayed on his mind.
So when the app launched, he installed it quickly. Naming concerns almost held him back – he thought authorities could block it due to how dark it sounded. His mom now holds the role of emergency contact, just in case.
Online chatter grew after the app got its name. A few people think it sounds harsh, even bad luck. Others tossed out calmer options – maybe “Are You You OK?” or “How Are You?” Moonscape Technologies noticed what users said. They’re looking at whether a new name makes sense now.
Around the world, the app known as Demumu has climbed to number one on paid utility lists in places like the US, Singapore, and Hong Kong. High rankings also show up in Australia and Spain, possibly because of overseas Chinese downloading it. The title plays off a well-known meal delivery service called “Are You Hungry?” – the sounds in Mandarin are nearly twins.
Eight yuan is what you pay today, though it started out free – about a dollar fifteen or eighty five pence. Three young creators, all born past nineteen ninety five, ran things from Zhengzhou, deep in Henan, with just a handful helping out. Its worth has climbed fast, so much that selling one tenth of the whole project could fetch a million yuan. That number stands far above the mere thousand spent at launch.
Soon, the project shifts toward older users in China. One out of every five residents there is past sixty. Lately, the group has called for deeper awareness around seniors who stay alone at home. These individuals carry hopes, work hard each day to get by, yet often go unnoticed. Respect, visibility, safety – those matter most
A reply never came from Moonscape Technologies when the BBC reached out. Their silence followed repeated attempts to get a statement.
