Featuring a new design, fresh colors, better documentation, and much more.
Over the past two years, I have spent countless hours tinkering with technology in ways I never thought possible. I went from daydreaming about seeing my app on the App Store to being invited to WWDC. I swear I will stop bringing that up eventually. Along the way, I developed a new obsession: websites. More specifically, the One Thirteen website.
From the start, the goal was simple. Keep the site simple. Hosting with mainstream platforms like Squarespace and Wix has become surprisingly expensive, and I have never liked the idea of paying annual fees for anything beyond a domain. So I decided to design and build the site myself, with a lot of help from ChatGPT in the pre-Codex and Claude Code days. That original design is open source and available to inspect or clone here.
A few months later, I redesigned the site to be even simpler. And I mean really simple. The result was an ultra-minimal website that lacked key features, proper documentation, and important context. At some point, those minimal design changes even broke the site’s analytics. Instead of fixing it, I let it sit. With major updates to Bit Buddy and Moneyminder approaching release, the website became more of a liability than an advocate for One Thirteen’s apps.
Enter the Redesign
As the tagline suggests, the new One Thirteen website introduces updated colors, refined animations, improved content, and a thoughtful rework of nearly every page. This version brings needed energy to One Thirteen’s online presence and, hopefully, encourages users to explore and learn more about the software we build.
Analytics were another key focus. Our apps include minimal tracking to respect user privacy, and we plan to keep it that way. But we also want to ensure that visitors can easily navigate the site and find what they are looking for. The redesigned site, along with backend improvements, gives us better insight into page activity and content performance. All of this is handled with a single cookie request when you first visit the site. If you prefer to block it entirely, an ad blocker will do the job.
What this Unlocks
Progress may have seemed slow. Honestly, it has been. But this update lays the groundwork for what comes next. It allows upcoming releases of Bit Buddy, Moneyminder, and future apps to be showcased more clearly. It also gives visitors better insight into who we are and why we build what we build.
Like our products, the One Thirteen website will continue to evolve. This version feels like the most complete iteration in a long time.
If you would like to explore the new design, you can visit the site here. Do not forget to check out the Sparrow Films page in both color modes.
Until next time,
Nick out.