--- title: Japanese Anti-Loneliness App Shows a Girl Staring at the User description: "Watching Cute Girl" is pretty much what it sounds like: A cute girl on iPhone screen that stares out at the phone's owner. canonical: https://time.com/108980/this-japanese-app-is-literally-just-a-girl-staring-at-you/ author: Kyle Chayka article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-22T15:30:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:55.841Z og:title: This Japanese App Is Literally Just a Girl Staring at You og:description: Never be lonely again, or is it too late? og:url: https://time.com/108980/this-japanese-app-is-literally-just-a-girl-staring-at-you/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42aea1c02f72096a/6986907d3bc99907741a3990/japanapp_screen.png?branch=production&width=315&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 315 og:image:height: 177 og:image:alt: japanapp_screen og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Japanese App Is Literally Just a Girl Staring at You twitter:description: Never be lonely again, or is it too late? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42aea1c02f72096a/6986907d3bc99907741a3990/japanapp_screen.png?branch=production&width=315&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Japanese App Is Literally Just a Girl Staring at You > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d093f0a3-4caa-403d-9bd8-96b37cbb7eb8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka May 22, 2014 3:30 PM UTC  This is a cute girl that watches you. This is a cute girl that watches you. Ningen Inc. / Apple App Store by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka May 22, 2014 3:30 PM UTC Forever alone? More like never alone! “[Watching Cute Girl](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/watching-cute-girl/id564115042?mt=8)” is a free Japanese app that’s pretty much what it sounds like. Launch the app on your iPhone, and a cute girl looks out at you from the screen, periodically saying something charming or offering to give you a (virtual) hug. Watching the [demo video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdWYhzqDWhU), it’s clear that the app is the latest in a long line of Japanese inventions that attempt to solve the enduring problem of social isolation. These range from anime body pillows (often used as “girlfriends”) to the [hugging coat](http://www.slashgear.com/japanese-students-invent-hugging-coat-08276834/) that automatically hugs its wearer and the ramen bowl with an iPhone mount (actually a great idea for anyone). It’s another step toward the technology featured in Spike Jonze’s _Her_: virtual people that we can interact (and possibly fall in love, or at least obsession) with. It also brings to mind Japan’s [hostess culture](http://kotaku.com/5903670/confessions-of-an-american-hostess-getting-paid-to-drink-with-men), in which women are paid to idly flirt and spend time with solo businessmen. This app seems slightly less exploitative, but still more than a little strange. Do you really want a spruced-up Tamagotchi to be your girlfriend? Reviews of the app show that the answer is actually, yes, people do. “It makes for good company for whenever I’m busy studying or doing work on the computer,” reviewer Moylan writes. “And it runs very smoothly!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/108980/this-japanese-app-is-literally-just-a-girl-staring-at-you/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/108980/this-japanese-app-is-literally-just-a-girl-staring-at-you/"},"headline":"This Japanese App Is Literally Just a Girl Staring at You","datePublished":"2014-05-22T15:30:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:55.841Z","description":"Never be lonely again, or is it too late?","url":"https://time.com/108980/this-japanese-app-is-literally-just-a-girl-staring-at-you/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Japan","iPhone","App","robots"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42aea1c02f72096a/6986907d3bc99907741a3990/japanapp_screen.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kyle Chayka","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42aea1c02f72096a/6986907d3bc99907741a3990/japanapp_screen.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"japanapp_screen","caption":"This is a cute girl that watches you.","creditText":"Ningen Inc. / Apple App Store","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/108980/this-japanese-app-is-literally-just-a-girl-staring-at-you/","name":"This Japanese App Is Literally Just a Girl Staring at You"}}]}] ```