You know the third episode of “30 Rock,” where Tina Fey becomes disturbed by her singledom after almost choking to death on her frozen dinner, alone in her apartment?
That same fear is motivating a hot new app trending in China. Available for a one-time payment of the equivalent of $1.15 in US dollars, the app — with the evocative name of “Are You Dead?” — is basically a large countdown timer that you have to reset regularly, and which alerts an emergency contact if you let the time run out.
As the BBC reports, the app’s counter is set to two days by default. After downloading, a user simply has to open the app and tap a large button to reset it. Failure to check in on time will send an automatic text to an appointed friend or loved one, alerting them that something may be amiss.
Though the app launched in May of 2025, its popularity only exploded among young adults living in urban areas over recent weeks, becoming the most downloaded paid app in the People’s Republic, the BBC found.
While the app serves a practical — if morbid — purpose, it also seems to be scratching a somber cultural itch among young Chinese people.
“There is a fear that people living alone might die unnoticed, with no one to call for help,” one social media user posted, per the BBC. “I sometimes wonder, if I died alone, who would collect my body?”
“People who live alone at any stage of their life need something like this, as do introverts, those with depression, the unemployed and others in vulnerable situations,” another Chinese netizen posted.
Recent figures from China’s State Council Information Office indicate that the number of of singles in the country, which contains about 17 percent of the world’s population, is rising rapidly as its population declines. The country’s”unmarried rate” among 30-year-olds was 29.97 percent in 2023 — while ten years earlier, it was just 14.56 percent, meaning the rate of 30-year-olds going it alone has increased by some 15 percent over the past decade.
What it takes to reverse those demographic trends is another story entirely. In the meantime, Chinese bachelors can at least rest easy knowing that even if they die alone, they won’t be forgotten for long.
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