Surely we all know that we are dying by the minute, right? Sooner, rather than later, and in the grand scheme of things it could be tomorrow, or ten minutes from now. Everything you love, haveever loved and ever will love will die, too. Maybe after, but most likely before. Then you will suffer through that until it is your turn to RIP. How do you feel? Energised? Ready to carpe diem? Or desperately anxious?
A new app called WeCroak reckons it will probably be the former, which is why it promises to remind you of your mortality five times a day, every day for the rest of your (short) life. The push notifications will come in the form of quotes from poets, philosophers and other very smart people who are not only aware of death but probably are actually dead! The app is inspired by "a Bhutanese folk saying that to be happy one must contemplate death five times daily", and, presumably, the motivational power of a panic attack.
The app is meant to encourage "contemplation, conscious breathing, or meditation" with fun quotes like "many have died; you also will die. The drum of death is being beaten."
It’s not clear what developer, Ian Thomas, who is only 27 years-old, wants everyone to get out of this. Picture the scene: you’re sitting at your desk and your phone buzzes to remind you of your inevitable death. You think, “okay, I will die. What do I want out of life? I’d love to travel!”. You can’t. You have no money. You have responsibilities. Life is hell, but now you’re aware that you’re going to lose the small bits of happiness you do have. WeCroak is supposed to offer the same reminder to be present that the 1000+ mindfulness apps on the apps store do too, like Calm and Headspace, but with its own morbid little spin.
The interface of the app consists of plain white text on a simple black background spelling out fun phrases like “The grave has no sunny corners,”. Users must open WeCroak once a week to confirm they want to continue receiving these messages, and, much like your own exit from this existence, WeCroak notifications can happen at any time during the day. Helpfully, however, WeCroak will only send notifications from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., because certainly, no one would want to be awake thinking about their own inevitable demise in the middle of the night, assuming this is something they don’t already regularly do.
But hey, if your brain works properly and you don’t think about the death of yourself and everyone you love every single time you open your eyes, maybe it’ll be good for you. Download it here.
