(Yicai) May 26 -- Chinese live-alone safety app Sileme, known for its controversial name meaning “are you dead” in Chinese, has returned after being removed from app stores for nearly four months, relaunching as Zaimezaime and shifting its focus toward elderly users living alone.

The app is now undergoing a small-scale pilot program in Shangcheng district in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province, where it is being used to provide safety monitoring services for elderly people living alone. The service includes electronic bracelets and will later be launched on major app stores, founder Lv Gongchen recently told Yicai.

Similar to the original Sileme app, Zaimezaime mainly provides daily check-in services for people living alone. If a user fails to check in for two consecutive days, the system automatically alerts emergency contacts. The development team said the new version also includes elderly-friendly features such as larger fonts, a simplified interface, and physical emergency-contact buttons for elderly users without smartphones.

Sileme went viral on China’s internet in January this year, with its darkly humorous name resonating with concerns faced by people living alone and attracting large numbers of young users. The app topped Apple’s China App Store paid-download rankings for several consecutive days before it was suddenly removed from all app stores on Jan. 15.

Before the app was taken down, the development team said it planned to adopt the global brand name Demumu and stop using the Chinese name. However, the team later said the rebranding effort failed to achieve the desired results and decided to publicly solicit new names from internet users.

According to previous reports, Sileme’s development team consisted of only three people, and the app cost less than CNY1,500 (USD221) to develop. After the app gained popularity, it attracted significant investor interest. Last month, the team sold a 10 percent stake for about CNY10 million (USD1.4 million), valuing the company at nearly CNY100 million (USD14.7 million), Lv told Yicai.

Following Sileme’s removal from app stores, the team reached a cooperation agreement with the Shangcheng District Data Resources Administration to expand the app’s target users from young people living alone to elderly residents living alone, aiming to address the safety needs of a broader group of solo residents, Lv added.

Editors: Dou Shicong and Emmi Laine