An app called Sileme, which means "Are you alive?" in Chinese, has gone viral in China, marking a significant increase in downloads and reactions on social media.
The sudden popularity has prompted the company to introduce a subscription fee and change the name for international audiences.
The app, which is aimed at people living alone, is described by its creators as "a simple security tool for individuals living alone," including students, office workers, or other people.
Here's how it works: the user assigns an emergency contact and the app sends automatic notifications if the user does not confirm their presence in the app for several days in a row.
The company announced on the social network Weibo that in the new version the application will be introduced globally under the name Demumu. Meanwhile, in the Apple App Store, Demumu already appears under this name and is ranked second in the list of paid applications.
The developers have announced that they will apply a fee of 8 yuan (about $1.15) to cover rising costs, explaining that the team consists of three young people born after 1995, who built the application independently.
The name change, however, has not been welcomed by all users. Some on social media have requested that the original name not be changed, while others have suggested more "gentle" alternatives such as "Are you okay?", "Are you online?" or "Are you there?".
One user wrote that the name might be a little "scary," but the app is useful for safety reasons and "makes people who live alone feel more at ease in their daily lives."
