"Are you dead?", the Chinese government's app to tackle loneliness

BeijingThe one-child policy, the social engineering carried out by the Chinese government to contain the birth rate, is taking its toll. China's population is declining and aging while the number of people living alone is increasing. and socially isolated. In 2025, China lost approximately 3.39 million inhabitants, and the birth rate fell by 17%, to its lowest level since records began. Efforts to stimulate birth rates and marriage are proving ineffective, and it is estimated that by 2030 there will be more than 200 million single-person households.

Evidence of these social transformations is the success of the app provocatively named "Are You Dead?". It has been described as "a safety companion" and tops the list of most downloaded apps on the Chinese internet. It works simply: the user clicks on a large green dot in the center of the screen, and if more than two days pass without a click, an email is automatically sent to a designated contact. The app aims to be insurance for lonely people who fear dying alone and having their body discovered months later.

The most remarkable aspect of this phenomenon is that it's not a public service aimed at elderly people living in remote areas, like our telecare systems. It's a paid app specifically targeted at young and middle-aged people from the middle class, as it's currently only available for iPhone. In China, it's common for young people to study in other cities and live far from their families. There's also a lot of job mobility, and it's frequent to work far from home. The work environment tends to be very competitive, and many people live in isolation without real social connections.

Family relationships are also very demanding, especially for women. Getting married and having children is practically an obligation, and many young people avoid these pressures by living in isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased this type of behavior. More and more people are living confined to their apartments, working remotely. In the People's Republic, the extensive home delivery services allow people to survive practically without leaving home.

"I will never be alone"

Social media has been flooded with comments about the usefulness of this app as insurance for young people. And surprisingly, many women have suggested that this app allows them to avoid marriage, since they will "never be alone."

In a country where the word "death" is taboo, the most questioned aspect has been the app's name. Some examples: many elevators don't have a fourth floor because the number four sounds too similar to the word "deceased." It goes directly from the third floor to the fifth. The number four is also avoided in phone numbers and license plates because it's considered unlucky. Conversely, numbers with eight, considered lucky, are more expensive (in China, phone numbers and license plates are bought).

In any case, the marketing has worked with a name that is so attention-grabbing that in China it's a play on words with a well-known food delivery app: "Are you hungry?" (Elema?) sounds very similar to "Are you dead?" (Silem?, in Chinese).

The controversy has helped the app go viral, although the company Moonscape Technologies is considering changing the name to something friendlier. Outside of China, the name chosen for marketing it is "Demumu," which sounds more like a pet name. It has been a hit in the United States and Singapore, where it is one of the two most downloaded apps in the last month. Interestingly, in Spain it is also one of the four most downloaded paid apps. The success has probably been driven by the Chinese community.

Beyond the anecdote, the aging population and the shrinking number of inhabitants are affecting China's development, which will increasingly need to invest more money in elder care, while losing too many jobs. Last year only 7.92 million babies were born, far from the 9.54 million projected for 2024 by the National Bureau of Statistics. This is the lowest rate since the People's Republic was founded in 1949, and for the fourth consecutive year, the population has declined to 1.404 billion. In fact, since 2023, the Asian giant is no longer the world's most populous country, having been surpassed by India, where the population continues to grow.