About Zhujian
Why it exists, what it still can't do well, and what it won't do.
I built it because three things kept bothering me.
Your data lives in someone else's cloud. If the service shuts down, your account gets banned, or the database leaks, it is no longer yours. So Zhujian keeps your data on your own devices, and sync only carries encrypted content.
You can't open it when you need to jot something down. A web board needs a browser and a login, stalls when the network is slow, and keeps growing features. A thought often lasts only a few seconds. Zhujian's answer: press a hotkey, a slip of paper pops up, type, hit Enter, and it tucks itself away.
Your words get rewritten. Many tools now use AI to polish, summarize, and sort what you write. When AI can write almost anything for you, the ideas you came up with yourself, untouched, are the ones worth keeping. Zhujian never changes a word you write.
One more thing: I wrote Zhujian's code together with AI. Having AI help me write a program is one thing; letting it change your words is another.
The name joins zhūshā (cinnabar) with jiǎndú (bamboo slips): red ink on a short strip.
What it doesn't do well yet, and what it won't do
Not good at yet
- There is no iPhone version.
- The Windows installer is not code-signed, so the first install shows an "unknown publisher" warning.
- On phones, sync is not real-time while Zhujian is in the background; it catches up when you bring it back.
- There is no app lock; on a phone, your notes are protected by the system lock screen.
- Board columns can only be added, renamed, or deleted on a computer; phones just use them.
- The HarmonyOS version gets updates later than Android.
- In dark mode a few small labels are a little too faint.
Won't do
- AI polishing, summaries, or auto-filing. What you write is what stays.
- Ask for an email address or phone number to sign up.
- Put ads or analytics in the app.