Overview
- The app asks users to check in daily and automatically emails an emergency contact if several days of confirmations are missed.
- After topping China’s paid Apple App Store, it disappeared from mainland Apple and Android stores under unclear circumstances while remaining visible in other markets such as Hong Kong.
- The developers renamed the app Demumu and raised the price to 8 yuan after initially charging 1 yuan following the surge in downloads.
- Co-founder Ian Guo said the three-person team built the app for under $150 and now estimates its valuation at about $15 million.
- Public reaction has ranged from comfort to criticism of the morbid branding, and experts caution that such tools should not substitute for meaningful social support as single-person households could reach about 200 million by 2030.