We’ve all had that thought, right? “What if I die? Who’ll find my body? How will anyone know that I’m figuratively six feet under so that they’ll be able to put me literally six feet under?” I thought that when I was among the earliest wave of COVID-19 sufferers in March 2020, and my housemates had all fled, like nearly every other person in my apartment building.
There was no app like Are You Dead? back then, but I could’ve used it for the peace of mind. The app hit the market in May 2025, according to the BBC, without anyone much noticing. But like a lot of things, it took off in popularity on a delay.
Right now, the app is hot, hot, hot in China, and also kind of depressing.
a simple fix for a complicated problem
The concept of Are You Dead? is simple: You have to click a button every two days to confirm that you are, in fact, still alive. If two days elapse without your pressing the button, the app sends a notice to your emergency contact (you appoint one in the app when you set it up) to alert them that you might need help. Or an undertaker.
“Little is known about the founders of Are You Dead?, but they say they are three people who were born after 1995 who built the app from Zhengzhou in Henan with a small team,” according to the BBC.
“They’re also looking to grow their target audience, saying they are exploring the idea of a new product specifically designed for the elderly in a country where over one-fifth of its population is over the age of 60.”
With the number of people who have little to no social circle rising across the developed world, it might not be a bad idea for the West to have a version of Are You Dead?
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