Morbid “Are You Dead?” App Becomes the New Panic Button for Lonely Singles

It’s basically Life Alert, but for people who don’t even have a houseplant checking on them.

A trending app out of China is gaining serious attention for tackling the modern loneliness epidemic in the bleakest, most honest way possible: by asking users to regularly confirm they are, in fact, still alive.

The grimly named “Are You Dead?” app is designed for people who live alone. Every two days, users must tap a giant green button featuring a ghost to prove they’re still breathing and scrolling. Miss the check-in, and things escalate quickly.

If a user forgets to tap the button, the app sends an email to their emergency contact on day three, politely alerting them that the person may be in trouble. Or asleep. Or binge-watching. Or emotionally unavailable.

The app quietly launched in May with very little buzz, but it didn’t stay quiet for long. The roughly $1.15 “single status tracker” has since exploded in popularity and is now the most downloaded paid app on China’s Apple App Store. Nothing says modern romance like a paid subscription to confirm your continued existence.

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According to Global Times, China is projected to have 200 million one-person households by 2030, which helps explain why an app like this feels less dystopian and more… practical.

Loneliness, however, isn’t just a Chinese problem. A Gallup poll released last May found that Gen Z and millennial men in the U.S. are the loneliest group, with 25% reporting significant isolation, compared to 18% of women in the same age bracket.

Even more sobering: one in four American men under 35 feels more isolated than their peers in countries like Canada, France, Ireland, and Spain.

So yes, the app sounds dark. But it’s also kind of comforting. In a world where people live alone, work remotely, and text “lol” instead of emotions, having something quietly check in on you every couple of days might not be the worst idea.

Morbid? Absolutely.
Necessary? Unfortunately… also yes.