Heartwarming app named 'Are You Dead' tops the charts in China and we could all learn from it
Published on Feb 09, 2026 at 9:14 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Feb 09, 2026 at 9:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
There’s a new app in China with a strange name but a noble objective.
It is called ‘Are You Dead’, and it’s designed for people who live alone.
The idea is to provide help to people who might need it, in a way that seems obvious but isn’t.
And it’s surprisingly simple to use.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
This is how it works
The app was launched in the Spring of last year, and it requires the user to check in every two days by pressing a large on-screen button to confirm they are alive and well.
If they don’t, the app will automatically alert a chosen emergency contact.
The name of the application roughly translates to ‘Are You Dead?’ or ‘Dead Yet?’.
The name is a bit grim, but at least you know exactly what it’s for.
And despite the harsh name, it is also designed to alert loved ones in case there’s another problem that doesn’t necessarily involve the Grim Reaper.
It is designed for people who live alone, because if they fell ill or had an accident at home, they could have a problem letting their loved ones know.
This is becoming a huge potential problem in China because projections show that the country could have up to 200 million one-person households by 2030.
There’s an app for everything
The first iPhone didn’t actually have an App Store.
Then, the introduction of the App Store (and Play Store from Android) opened the floodgates, and now there’s phone-based software for virtually everything.
Some are useful – like navigation tools, for example – and some are simply made for fun.
A great example of the latter category is ‘iBeer’.
It was created pretty much out of sheer boredom, but it made its creator a millionaire.
After beginning his automotive writing career at DriveTribe, Alessandro has been with Supercar Blondie since the launch of the website in 2022. In fact, he penned the very first article published on supercarblondie.com. He’s covered subjects from cars to aircraft, watches, and luxury yachts - and even crypto. He can largely be found heading up the site’s new-supercar and SBX coverage and being the first to bring our readers the news that they’re hungry for.
