A person holds a phone that displays the “Are You Dead?” app in Paris on Jan. 22. Felice Rosa/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Felice Rosa/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Each day, after feeding his cat and tidying up his home, Johnny Miller has one more task left on his to-do list: confirm on his phone that he is indeed still alive.
He does this through a Chinese app called Sileme, which is Mandarin for “Are You Dead?” Its function is in its morbid name: Users check in with the app daily. If they miss a number of check-ins, the app