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.

Facebook’s ‘Stickered for Messenger’ app now available on iOS

Facebook this evening released its odd 'Stickered for Messenger' app for iOS. First released on Android last week, Stickered allows users to add some fun stickers to their photos before sending them off to friends and family on Messenger.

More specifically, the app allows you to snap a photo, or pull one in from your camera roll, and pick from hundreds of stickers to apply. You can move the images around, resize them, and then pop into Messenger to send off your work.

Ticketmaster app updated with support for Apple Pay

Popular ticket sale and distribution company Ticketmaster updated its iOS client over the weekend, bringing it to version 1.7.1. The update brings about a handful of nominal improvements, and one major new feature: support for Apple Pay.

Users with an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 can now make purchases within the app quickly & securely with a single touch using Apple's new mobile payment method. Buying tickets from Ticketmaster just got a whole lot easier.

Apple spent $56 billion on stock buybacks this year

Apple was the biggest buyback spender among the S&P 500 this year, according to MarketWatch. Citing data from FactSet, the outlet reports the iPhone-maker has bought back more than $56 billion worth of shares from stockholders in 2014.

That's a staggering amount, especially when you consider that the company that came in second place among buyback spenders in 2014, IBM, only spent $19.2 billion. Apple spent almost that much ($18.6 billion) during its first quarter this year.

Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest games discounted in Square Enix holiday sale

Joining Halfbrick and others, Square Enix has launched a holiday promotional sale for all of its iOS games. So for a limited time, you can pickup some of the studio's biggest titles for iPhone and iPad at a significant discount.

The Square Enix library contains a number of popular console ports, including Final Fantasy 1-6, and Final Fantasy Tactics, as well as multiple Chaos Rings and Dragon Quest games. We've listed all of the discounted titles below.

Amazon Instant Video updated with support for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

Amazon updated its Instant Video streaming app today, bringing it to version 2.9.5. As the build number indicates, it's a fairly small update, but it should make users happy with its improved support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

This means that streaming videos should look better on the larger, higher resolution displays of Apple's newer handsets, as should the app's menu system. You can now see more content in a single glance, making navigation easier.

Fruit Ninja and all other Halfbrick Studio games are free right now

The folks over at Halfbrick Studios must be getting in the holiday spirt, because they just discounted their entire library of iOS games down to free. That's right, for a limited time, you can pick up any one of their popular apps for iPhone and iPad, at absolutely 0 cost.

Even if you're not familiar with the Halfbrick name, there's a good chance you've played one of their titles. The studio is responsible for a number of iOS hits including Fruit Ninja, Monster Dash, Jetpack Joyride and more. Full list of games and App Store links below.

Major 500px app update adds built-in camera, iPhone 6 support and more

Popular photo sharing service 500px has posted a monster update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.9. The update brings about a number of significant improvements, including support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the 1Password iOS 8 login extension.

Perhaps most noteworthy, though, is that 500px has added a built-in camera to the app, with the option to control focus and exposure manually. So the app once only served as a browser/manager tool for the service, it now competes directly with Instagram, Flickr and others.

Apple seeds third iOS 8.2 beta to developers

Apple has seeded the third iOS 8.2 beta to developers this morning. The release comes a week after the second iOS 8.2 beta, and follows last week's public launch of iOS 8.1.2, which brought about a fix for disappearing ringtones.

The new 8.2 beta can be downloaded either over-the-air, or via Apple’s developer portal, by all registered iOS developers. It’s unknown what new features the firmware will bring, but it will enable support for Apple's WatchKit.

Waze updated with Notification Center widget and more

The Google-owned Waze updated its iOS app today, bringing the crowdsourced mapping software to version 3.9.2. Don't let that build number fool you, however, as the update brings about some significant changes.

Perhaps the most notable addition is the new Waze Today Widget for iOS 8 devices. The widget allows you to quickly view your ETA for Home or Work, navigate with one tap, and easily send your current drive & ETA.

TAG Heuer announces plans for smartwatch ahead of Apple Watch debut

LVMH watch chief Jean-Claude Biver announced today that its popular luxury watch line TAG Heuer is pushing ahead with plans for a smartwatch. At a press conference in Switzerland this morning, the executive admitted he had dismissed the threat of wearables, but recently had a change of heart.

"We started on the project about four months ago," Biver told journalists. "We have done several partnerships and might also do acquisitions." Google and Intel are among those rumored to be working with TAG on its smartwatch, which is believed to feature both mechanical actions and digital sensors.

Apple Pay has gained several new bank and retail partners in recent weeks

Apple on Tuesday told The New York Times that it has signed up "dozens more banks, retail stores and start-ups to adopt Apple Pay" in recent weeks. The mobile payment service launched in October with a handful of official partners, and has been adding new ones on a near-weekly basis.

This latest round of additions includes Associated Bank, BB&T, Commerce Bank, TD Bank North America, UW Credit Union and 5 other institutions. Apple says that with the new partners, Apple Pay now supports the cards that represent ~90% of the credit card purchase volume in the US.

Apple halts online sales in Russia due to ‘extreme’ currency fluctuations

Apple has halted all online sales in Russia this morning, due to "extreme" fluctuations in the country's ruble currency, reports Bloomberg. Spokesman Alan Hely told the outlet that the company has decided to shutter the store while it "reviews pricing,” and it “apologizes to customers for any inconvenience.”

The Russian economy has been in trouble for months, but things have gotten significantly worse in recent days due in large part to the falling price of oil and economic sanctions. The ruble has plummeted a staggering 19% within the last 24 hours—the worst single day drop for the currency in the last 16 years.