On January 14, “Dieme”, a safety application for living alone, became popular recently and attracted the attention of the American media. "Wired" magazine published an article on Tuesday saying that the most popular app in China is an app that tests whether you are still alive every day. "Wired" also conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Guo, one of the three founders of "Dead" born after 1995. For privacy reasons, he asked to be called only by his surname Guo.


"Are you dead?" went viral

Mr. Guo said that he has been developing social and entertainment applications for several years, but he hopes to move to more basic areas. “When I studied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I realized that safety needs were at a lower level and applicable to a wider range of people, which felt like a good direction,” he said.

The practical functions of "Dead" and the dark humor in its name have resonated with young people in China. Downloads have surged in the past week, and it topped the list of paid apps in Apple's China App Store.

Mr. Guo said that he did not spend a penny on paid advertising. "We don't have that kind of money." However, the ranking of "Dead Mo" in overseas app stores also continues to rise.

Mr. Guo told "Wired" that since "Dead" became popular on social media, the team has been contacted by more than 60 investors and is currently actively negotiating financing matters. He revealed that some investors have offered to invest millions of yuan in Yuejing (Zhengzhou) Technical Services Company, the developer of "Dead Me". Previously, the company had only released a handful of apps. The team expects to announce the results of its financing negotiations within a few weeks. "We knew there would be some concern, but the current market response has completely exceeded our expectations." Mr. Guo said.

The app initially charged users a one-time usage fee of 1 yuan (about 14 cents). As attention surged this week, the price has been adjusted to 8 yuan (about $1.15). Considering there is no subscription fee, this is still a low price. Although Mr. Guo did not disclose the specific revenue or number of active users of the application, he said that the current profits will be used for the long-term development of the platform.

On Tuesday, the "Demumu" development team announced on social media that the app will be officially renamed "Demumu" to better launch it for the global market. The name was also previously used for overseas versions of the app, and was inspired by the success of another Chinese company. Mr. Guo said that Demumu is a combination of the word "Death" and the Labubu naming pattern. Labubu is a Chinese stuffed toy brand that became popular around the world last year.

However, users don't buy it. Even before the official announcement of the name change, they had been asking developers not to change the straightforward name, because this is one of the reasons why the app is attractive. On Weibo, the most liked comment under the name change announcement read: "Baby, your previous name is the reason why you are famous."

According to data from market research organization Sensor Tower, "Dead Me" received limited attention in the initial stage of its launch. Its downloads began to increase in late December last year, and on January 9, it officially became the most downloaded paid application in Apple's China App Store. Mr. Guo said the app’s first surge in traffic came from a recommendation from an internet celebrity on the domestic social platform Xiaohongshu.

Mr. Guo revealed that the team plans to introduce AI technology to the application soon so that it can more proactively monitor user security status. Although he did not mention specific functions, he described the team's vision as "essentially like installing an AI security companion on everyone's mobile phone that can provide all kinds of help when you need it."