China's Hottest App of 2026 Just Asks If You're Still Alive (japantimes.co.jp) 20
A bare-bones Chinese app called "Are You Dead?" -- whose entire premise is that solo-living users tap daily to confirm they're still alive, triggering an alert to an emergency contact after two missed check-ins -- has rocketed to the top of China's app store charts and gone viral globally without spending a dime on advertising.
The app wasn't built for the elderly, as many assumed; its creators are Gen-Z developers who said they were inspired by the isolation of urban life in a country where one-person households are expected to hit 200 million by 2030. Its rise coincided with China's birth rate plunging to a record low. Beijing quietly removed the app from Chinese stores last month, and the developers are now crowdsourcing a new name on social media after their first rebrand attempt, "Demumu," failed to catch on.
The app wasn't built for the elderly, as many assumed; its creators are Gen-Z developers who said they were inspired by the isolation of urban life in a country where one-person households are expected to hit 200 million by 2030. Its rise coincided with China's birth rate plunging to a record low. Beijing quietly removed the app from Chinese stores last month, and the developers are now crowdsourcing a new name on social media after their first rebrand attempt, "Demumu," failed to catch on.
slashdot editor's hottest app of 2026 (Score:3)
Asks if the story is a dupe.
https://m.slashdot.org/story/451260
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Here's what I posted in that thread. Still relevant for those who missed it:
I'm in my late sixties. My older sister and brother live alone and are over seventy. We have a group text going where we each say something every noon (they sleep late). It felt morbid at first, but it's now a nice mix of jokes and what's going on with each of us. If I ever need an app like this I think I'd move into a group home instead.
be more communist (Score:2)
What happened to the communes in communism? Living with a group of like-minded agrarian coeds is the key to a life of happiness and abundance. Struggling against billions of strangers to succeed in a monetized, gamified, algorithmically controlled corporate wasteland is not a recipe for good health. There is, however an app for that, for a small monthly subscription.
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I suppose it's still an improvement (Score:2, Troll)
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They found stoicism late in life. And through questionable channels. What they believe in is broicsim.
Why not something that might keep people alive? (Score:3)
Seems like after two days, the emergency services are going to come in and find a bad smell. Would be better to have an app for your watch that detects loss of consciousness/heart rhythm and calls emergency services when it would actually be early enough to maybe do some good.
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Why not indeed? Other than that one costs next to nothing and the other requires massive investment, coordination of emergency services.m, and an army of lawyers covering all sort of exposure...
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It's designed to keep people alive but alleviating some of their loneliness. It's hard to explain to someone who has not experienced it themselves, but that little question, even automated, somehow helps.
I've got chronic health issues, and I found that keeping a really simple diary helped. There is an app called Migraine Log for Android, open source and stores data locally. It just asks you a single question - rate your pain on a scale of green, yellow, or red. I have a reminder set for it once a day.
I init
Old concept (Score:2)
This concept has been around for a while [wikipedia.org]...
If not ... (Score:2)
Not new (Score:2)
http://isabevigodadead.com/ [isabevigodadead.com]
I remember when that site told you Abe Vigoda was still alive.
OH... that's a much better idea (Score:3)
I think I finally understand now why my app, "Click if you're Dead", never caught on.
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Rememebr Firefox Abe Vigoda Plugin? (Score:2)
Chinese localized quote (Score:2)