A Chinese app that requires you to regularly check in to prove you’re alright has soared in popularity, thanks to the number of people living on their own.
Are You Dead? (Sileme in Mandarin) this week became the most downloaded paid app in the China’s history, and has put the spotlight on the ballooning numbers of single-person households in the country.
Droves of downloads
“The concept is simple”: you must check in every two days by “clicking a large button to confirm that you are alive”, said the BBC. If you don’t, “it will get in touch with your appointed emergency contact”. Launched last year to “not much fanfare”, the app’s notoriety has since “exploded” as young people who live alone in Chinese cities have begun “downloading it in droves”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In an interview with Chinese media, Guo Mengchu, one of the app’s founders, said he planned to sell a tenth of his shares for one million yuan (£106,000). Based on this, the app’s value has been estimated at more than 10 million yuan (£1 million).
Its popularity rests largely on how many people live alone in China. In 2024, those who lived alone accounted for about 20% of all Chinese households, compared with 15% a decade earlier. It’s forecast that, by 2030, there may be up to 200 million one-person households in China.
What’s in a name?
Sileme is a pun on the popular food delivery app Ele.me (“Are you hungry?” in English). But some people were “quick to bash the app’s less than cheery name”, said the BBC, suggesting it should be changed to “Are you OK?” or something else “with a more positive spin”.
Two days ago, the company said that “after extensive consideration”, the app will adopt its current overseas name, Demumu, in the app’s next Chinese iteration.
Guo explained that “de” was an abbreviation for death, while “mumu” was a cute-sounding, nonsense word. But some Chinese users think the change is a mistake, arguing that the app’s striking name was part of its viral appeal.
-
Three consequences from the Jenrick defectionThe Explainer Both Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage may claim victory, but Jenrick’s move has ‘all-but ended the chances of any deal to unite the British right’
-
Why is London’s property market slumping?Today's Big Question Some sellers have reported losses of hundreds of thousands of pounds
-
Quiz of The Week: 10 – 16 JanuaryQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
-
China’s single mothers are teaming upUnder the Radar To cope with money pressures and work commitments, single mums are sharing homes, bills and childcare
-
Remaking the military: Pete Hegseth’s war on diversity and ‘fat generals’Talking Point The US Secretary of War addressed military members on ‘warrior ethos’
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
'Axis of upheaval': will China summit cement new world order?Today's Big Question Xi calls on anti-US alliance to cooperate in new China-led global system – but fault lines remain
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
US, China extend trade war truce for 90 daysSpeed Read The triple-digit tariff threat is postponed for another three months
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
