It’s being compared to Life Alert — but redesigned for younger, single people navigating life alone in crowded cities.
A new app gaining traction in China is addressing the country’s growing loneliness crisis in a starkly unconventional way: by regularly checking whether users are still alive. The trend has sparked widespread conversation about isolation, safety, and how technology is stepping in where human connection is fading.
Known chillingly as Lonely Young Singles Turn to Morbid ‘Are You Dead?’ App as a New Panic Button, the app asks users to confirm their well-being every two days. A missed check-in isn’t ignored — it triggers an alert to an emergency contact, signaling that something may be wrong.
A Simple Click That Signals Safety
The app, officially called Demumu on its English-language platform, features a large green button marked with a cartoon ghost. Users must tap it every 48 hours to show they’re okay. If they fail to do so, the system automatically emails their designated emergency contact on the third day.
Developers describe Demumu as a “lightweight safety tool” meant to bring peace of mind to people living alone. According to its creators, the app is designed for solo professionals, students far from home, and anyone choosing or forced into a solitary lifestyle.
“What we wanted was something simple that makes living alone feel less risky,” the developers explain on the app’s website.
From Quiet Launch to Viral Success
Although it launched quietly in May, the app has since surged in popularity. Priced at roughly $1.15, it has become the most downloaded paid app on China’s Apple App Store — a surprising feat for a product with such a bleak name.
Experts say its success reflects deeper societal changes. Decades of one-child policies, rapid urban migration, and shifting family structures have led to a sharp rise in people living alone across Chinese cities. By 2030, the country is expected to have around 200 million single-person households.
“At Least Someone Would Know”
For many users, the app fills a deeply personal fear. One 38-year-old user, Wilson Hou, lives nearly 100 kilometers away from his family and spends most nights alone at a construction project site in Beijing.
“I worry that if something happened to me, I could die alone in my rented place and no one would notice,” Hou shared. He added that he set his mother as his emergency contact so his family would be notified if the worst happened.
Other users echoed similar sentiments online, saying the app provides reassurance for introverts, people dealing with depression, the unemployed, and those in vulnerable stages of life.
A Name That Divides Opinion
Despite its popularity, not everyone is comfortable with the app’s blunt branding. Many users have criticized the name as unnecessarily grim, suggesting alternatives like “Are You Alive?” instead.
“Death has both literal and social meanings,” one commenter noted. “If the name were softer, I’d happily pay for it.”
The company behind the app, Moonscape Technologies, has acknowledged the feedback. Representatives say they are considering a name change, adding messaging features, and expanding the concept to support elderly users — an increasingly urgent need in a country where one in five people is over 60.
Could It Go Global?
So far, there’s no confirmation on whether the app will launch outside China. However, with loneliness rising sharply in countries like the United States — particularly among young men — the concept may soon find a global audience.
Morbid or not, the app highlights a sobering reality: for millions of people living alone, a simple digital check-in has become a modern lifeline.
