Episode Details

For Li Wan, a 25-year-old living alone in East China's Shandong province, the blunt question "Are you dead?" wasn't an insult, but rather an 8-yuan ($1.14) investment in peace of mind.

对于25岁的李婉（音译）来说，这位独自生活在中国东部山东省的年轻人，面对“你死了吗？”这样直白的问题，并非感到被冒犯，反而视作一项8元（约合1.14美元）的安心投资。

Li is one of thousands of young professionals driving a viral surge for "Sileme" — translated as "Are You Dead?" — a minimalist safety app that has recently dominated the paid charts on China's Apple App Store. The app, branded as Demumu in its English version, requires no login or personal data; users simply tap a "check in today" button once a day. If they miss their check-in for consecutive days, the system automatically emails a designated emergency contact.

李婉（音译）是数千名推动“Sileme”（意为“死了吗”）病毒式传播的年轻专业人士之一。这款极简安全应用近期在中国苹果应用商店的付费榜单上独占鳌头。这款英文版名为Demumu的应用无需登录或提供个人信息，用户只需每日点击一次“今日签到”按钮。若连续多日未签到，系统将自动向指定紧急联系人发送邮件。

"I downloaded it because the name was amusing," said Li, who has lived alone for over a year and is often on the receiving end of her mother's concerns about lack of communication. "With the app, my mom will receive an email and can reach me if I don't check in. It enhances communication with my family."

李婉（音译）她独自生活已逾一年，常因缺乏联系而成为母亲担忧的对象，她表示：“我下载这个应用是因为名字有趣。有了这个应用，如果我不按时报平安，母亲会收到邮件并能联系到我。这增强了我和家人的沟通。”

The app's sudden popularity highlights a growing "safety anxiety" among China's solo dwellers. According to the 2025 China Statistical Yearbook, single-person households now account for approximately 20 percent of the country's sampled population. Industry forecasts from Beike Research Institute suggest this demographic could swell to between 150 million and 200 million people by 2030.

该应用的突然走红凸显了中国独居人群日益增长的“安全焦虑”。据《2025年中国统计年鉴》显示，单人家庭目前约占全国抽样人口的20%。Beike研究院的行业预测指出，到2030年这一群体规模可能膨胀至1.5亿至2亿人。

Developed by three Gen Z creators in just one month, the app was born from social media discussions about the risks of living alone. One of the developers, surnamed Guo, noted the user base has increased 50-fold since its launch.

这款应用由三位Z世代创作者仅用一个月时间开发完成，其灵感源于社交媒体上关于独居风险的讨论。开发者之一郭姓人士指出，自上线以来用户基数已增长50倍。

Guo said the cost of developing the app, about 1,000 yuan, has