China's Hottest App of 2026 Just Asks If You're Still Alive (japantimes.co.jp)
- Reference: 0180828156
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/19/1945205/chinas-hottest-app-of-2026-just-asks-if-youre-still-alive
- Source link: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/25/world/dying-app-chinas-latest-tech-obsession/
The app wasn't built for the elderly, as many assumed; its creators are Gen-Z developers who said they were inspired by the isolation of urban life in a country where one-person households are expected to hit 200 million by 2030. Its rise coincided with China's birth rate [2]plunging to a record low . Beijing quietly removed the app from Chinese stores last month, and the developers are now crowdsourcing a new name on social media after their first rebrand attempt, "Demumu," failed to catch on.
[1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/25/world/dying-app-chinas-latest-tech-obsession/
[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/19/144215/china-birth-rate-falls-to-lowest-since-1949
be more communist (Score:2)
What happened to the communes in communism? Living with a group of like-minded agrarian coeds is the key to a life of happiness and abundance. Struggling against billions of strangers to succeed in a monetized, gamified, algorithmically controlled corporate wasteland is not a recipe for good health. There is, however an app for that, for a small monthly subscription.
Re: (Score:2)
Where can you find this 'communism'? I'm intrigued by your ideas.
I suppose it's still an improvement (Score:1)
Over Trump's social security administration advising people that suicide is just one option...
Re: (Score:2)
They found stoicism late in life. And through questionable channels. What they believe in is broicsim.
Why not something that might keep people alive? (Score:2)
Seems like after two days, the emergency services are going to come in and find a bad smell. Would be better to have an app for your watch that detects loss of consciousness/heart rhythm and calls emergency services when it would actually be early enough to maybe do some good.
Re: (Score:2)
Why not indeed? Other than that one costs next to nothing and the other requires massive investment, coordination of emergency services.m, and an army of lawyers covering all sort of exposure...
Old concept (Score:2)
This concept has been around for a [1]while [wikipedia.org]...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man's_switch
If not ... (Score:2)
.. why not?
Not new (Score:2)
[1]http://isabevigodadead.com/ [isabevigodadead.com]
I remember when that site told you Abe Vigoda was still alive.
[1] http://isabevigodadead.com/
OH... that's a much better idea (Score:2)
I think I finally understand now why my app, "Click if you're Dead", never caught on.
slashdot editor's hottest app of 2026 (Score:2)
Asks if the story is a dupe.
https://m.slashdot.org/story/451260
Re: (Score:2)
Let's just start with still alive.