China’s Hottest App Is a Daily Test of Whether You're Still Alive

An indie app with lone 1 relation is presently each the rage successful China. It’s called si le ma (死了吗), which translates virtually to “Are You Dead Yet.” The app asks users to pat a fastener erstwhile each day, and if they neglect to bash truthful for 2 consecutive days, it automatically sends an email to a designated exigency contact, urging them to cheque connected the idiosyncratic successful person.

Guo, 1 of the 3 Gen-Z developers down Are You Dead Yet, says helium has been gathering societal and amusement apps for a fewer years. But helium wanted to pivot to thing much fundamental. “When I looked astatine Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I saw that information needs are deeper and use to a overmuch broader radical of people. That felt similar a bully direction,” Guo told WIRED successful an exclusive interview. (He asked to lone beryllium identified by his past sanction for privateness reasons.)

The app’s applicable functionality and the acheronian wit its sanction evokes person struck a chord with young radical successful China, who swarmed to download it implicit the past week. At the clip of publication, Are You Dead Yet was the fig 1 paid app successful the Chinese mentation of Apple’s App Store. It is besides climbing the rankings successful overseas app store charts, adjacent though Guo says helium hasn’t spent a dime connected paid advertising. “We don’t person that benignant of money,” helium explains.

Guo tells WIRED that the squad has been contacted by implicit 60 investors since Are You Dead Yet blew up connected societal media, and they are successful progressive conversations astir fundraising. He claims that immoderate investors person already offered millions of Chinese yuan—hundreds of thousands of US dollars—for a involvement successful its genitor company, Moonscape Technologies, which has released conscionable a fistful of apps truthful far. The squad expects to denote the results of the fundraising talks successful a fewer weeks. “We knew determination would beryllium immoderate traction, but the standard of this wholly exceeded our expectations,” Guo says.

Guo and his colleagues initially charged users a one-time outgo of 1 RMB ($0.14) to usage the app; amid the heightened attraction this week, they raised the terms to 8 RMB ($1.15), inactive a minimal magnitude considering there’s nary subscription required. While Guo declined to disclose however overmuch wealth the app has made and however galore progressive users it has, helium says the wealth they person earned truthful acold volition spell toward processing the level for the agelong term.

Are You Dead Yet has caught connected peculiarly among radical who unrecorded alone. The mean size of a Chinese household has shrunk dramatically implicit the past fewer decades. According to a 2020 nationalist census, 25.4 percent of households consisted of conscionable 1 person, up from 14.5 percent a decennary earlier. While aged radical stay the astir apt to unrecorded alone, determination is simply a increasing cohort of younger radical surviving a solo lifestyle, and Chinese businesses are progressively catering to this demographic by offering integer oregon carnal companionship services.

On Tuesday, the developers announced connected Chinese societal media that Are You Dead Yet would officially alteration its sanction to “Demumu” successful bid to amended service the planetary market. That name, which was besides utilized for the app’s overseas mentation previously, was inspired by different Chinese concern success. Guo says Demumu is simply a operation of the connection “death” and the naming signifier of Labubu, the Chinese plushie monster that went viral globally past year.

Fans of the app are not thrilled. Even earlier the announcement, they had been asking the developers not to alteration the blunt name, which was fractional the appeal. On Weibo, a Chinese societal platform, the astir liked remark nether the sanction alteration announcement reads, “Baby, your erstwhile sanction was the crushed you went viral.”