Cody Lee

Cody Lee, iDownloadBlog.com’s longest-serving Editor, joined the site in 2008. He specializes in uncovering the best deals on Apple products, apps, and accessories. With years of experience in technology journalism, Cody helps readers save money while staying informed about the latest trends and updates in the Apple ecosystem. Cody’s history with smartphones goes almost as far back as he does. As the son of a Nokia employee, he was exposed early on to handsets like the N91 and the Communicator. He has since been involved in nearly every aspect of the mobile phone industry. While going to college, he worked at a Nokia factory, building handsets, and later moved on to a sales position at a major wireless carrier.

New Apple diversity report shows growth in hires of minority workers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Thursday issued an updated diversity report, to provide transparency on its efforts to beef up hiring of women and minorities. The company is one of many Silicon Valley firms that has been criticized for having a mostly white, male work force.

According to Apple's data, men still account for 69% of its workforce, and 54% of its US employees are white. It's trying to move the needle though, as it's hired 11,000 women since last year's report (an increase of 65%), and over 5000 non-white workers.

Bloomberg: Apple to delay TV service until 2016

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2015

Apple has scrapped plans to announce its long-rumored streaming TV service at its upcoming September 9 event, reports Bloomberg. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet says that content deal talks with 21st Century Fox and others have been progressing slowly.

Additionally, Apple also doesn't have the computer network capacity in place to ensure a good viewing experience—a common complaint among users of Dish's Sling TV and other streaming services. Thus, the company has decided to push back the launch of its service to 2016.

Time Surfer goes free as Apple’s App of the week

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2015

Apple has just named Kumobius' "Time Surfer" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the popular endless arcade runner for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of a buck.

If you've ever played Tiny Wings, Time Surfer will feel somewhat familiar. The basic mechanical gameplay is the same—tap the screen to pull in close and gain speed, release to fly. But make no mistake, everything else is much faster and far more intense.

Apple designer Marc Newson criticizes auto industry over lack of progress

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

An interview with the world renown designer and recent Apple-hire Marc Newson popped up in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, covering a wide range of topics. The discussion yielded a number of interesting tidbits, including Newson's thoughts on automotive design.

When asked what his design pet-peeve is, News responds unapologetically "the automotive industry." He goes on to elaborate, "there were moments when cars somehow encapsulated everything that was good about progress. But right now we’re at the bottom of a trough."

Apple releases OS X 10.10.5 with patch for DYLD bug and other fixes

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2015

In addition to iOS 8.4.1, Apple on Thursday also seeded OS X Yosemite 10.10.5, a free update for Macs. The release comes after two developer betas and a month of testing, and you can find it in the Updates tab of the Mac App Store.

Most notably, the update features a patch for the DYLD privilege escalation bug that was discovered earlier this month. Apple says in the release notes that the software includes fixes for both Mail and Photos apps, as well as QuickTime.

Apple recalling some third-generation Apple TV models due to faulty component

Cody Lee ∙ August 12, 2015

Apple is recalling some third-generation Apple TV models due to a faulty component, reports MacRumors. The site says that the company began contacting select customers yesterday who recently purchased an Apple TV, informing them that their devices had shipped with an unspecified faulty part.

Alongside the warning, Apple is offering to exchange the bad set-top boxes for new units shipped from the company. As of Wednesday afternoon, no word had been posted on Apple's official website regarding the recall, suggesting that the amount of affected devices out in the wild is fairly small.

Apple Pay competitor CurrentC may not launch until 2016

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

CurrentC, the mobile payments app back by a consortium of major retailers known as MCX, may not launch until 2016, Recode reports. The outlet spoke with MCX CEO Brian Mooney yesterday, and he says that the app may not be ready to go this year like originally planned.

A public pilot of the app will go live in Ohio next month, and Mooney says that MCX won't push for a wider rollout if it's not ready. "This is a long game," he said said. “Certainly going faster is always better — that’s not necessarily a debatable point. But we’re going to do it right."

This was the most played music on Beats 1 last month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

As Apple and its executives continue to point out, what sets Beats 1 apart from other streaming radio services is its human curation. Instead of software algorithms, Beats 1 features real-life DJs that play whatever song they are feeling at any given moment.

But that doesn't mean you won't hear music get repeated. Quartz tracked the Beats 1 playlist throughout the month of July, and according to its data, out of 12,445 songs, only 3,371 were unique. This means that each song was played an average of 3.7 times.

Apple Store app updated with support for gift cards

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Tuesday pushed out an update to its Apple Store app, bringing the mobile client for its online store to version 3.4. The update adds support for making purchases using gift cards.

In the change log, Apple says "you can now make purchases with an Apple Store Gift Card. Use the built-in Camera to scan new Gift Cards, or import existing Gift Cards from the Passbook app.

iPad mini 4 expected to support iOS 9’s Split View multitasking feature

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The upcoming iPad mini 4 will likely be powerful enough to support the Split View multitasking feature in iOS 9. 9to5Mac points to a resource file discovered by developer Hamza Sood in OS X El Capitan that depicts an iPad mini with two apps running side-by-side.

Additionally, a tool in El Capitan allows developers to simulate an iPad mini 3 running Safari in Split View mode, even though the device does not currently support the feature. Combined, this evidence suggests that Apple is preparing to launch a powerful 8-inch tablet.

Apple adds 20 new Flyover locations to Maps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Tuesday added 20 new locations to the 3D Flyover feature in its iOS and OS X Maps applications. The new spots include cities and landmarks in the US, Japan, Italy, Spain and France.

First introduced when Apple Maps launched in 2012, the Flyover feature allows users to take interactive, three-demensional virtual tours of various points of interest from around the world.

AT&T Wi-Fi calling rolling out to some iOS 9 beta users

Cody Lee ∙ August 11, 2015

AT&T on Tuesday began rolling out support for Wi-Fi calling to some iPhone users running iOS 9 beta 5. The feature was added when that beta was released to developers last week, but testers on the AT&T network are only just now able to activate it.

For those unfamiliar with Wi-Fi calling, it allows iPhone users to place phone calls over Wi-Fi instead of their cellular network. The feature was first activated for T-Mobile in iOS 8, and users have reported better call quality and improved battery life.