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.

Royals and Giants ballparks accepting Apple Pay during World Series

Cody Lee ∙ October 20, 2014

Folks lucky enough to be attending the World Series over the next week will be happy to hear that Apple Pay payments will be accepted at both Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and AT&T Park in San Francisco. MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) announced the availability this afternoon.

In conjunction with MasterCard, MLBAM says it worked hard to bring a variety of contactless payment services and devices to the ballparks in time for the Championship series, which will allow attendees to purchase food and beverages at concession stands using their own smartphones.

Apple to start requiring apps to use iOS 8 SDK, offer 64-bit support in February

Cody Lee ∙ October 20, 2014

Apple sent out a notification to developers today, giving them a heads up on a few upcoming changes to its App Store submission policy. Posted in its developer portal, the bulletin says that beginning in February of next year, iOS applications must meet two new requirements.

Starting February 1, 2015, new apps and updates must be built using the iOS 8 SDK (software development kit), and they must include 64-bit support, otherwise they will be rejected. Apple made a similar announcement around this time last year for iOS 7 app optimization.

15 interesting points from today’s earnings call

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple announced its financial results for Q4 2014 this afternoon, and for the most part it beat the Street’s expectations. The company sold 39.3 million iPhones and pulled in $42.1 billion in revenue during the three month period, and iPad sales fell short at just 12.3 million.

We’re just finishing up the conference call, where Tim Cook, CFO Luca Maestri and other members of the executive team have discussed Apple’s performance, and offered some insight into its future. As usual, we’ve rounded up the to 15 most interesting points for you below.

Apple Q4 2014 earnings: 39.3M iPhones, 12.3M iPads, $42.1B revenue

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has posted its [fiscal] fourth quarter earnings report this afternoon, announcing that it has sold 39.3 million iPhones and 12.3 million iPads. The numbers are just about as expected, with iPhones coming in a little higher than anticipated, and iPads coming in quite a bit lower.

It's been a significant quarter for Apple in terms of announcements, as it unveiled two new iPhones, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. It's worth noting, however, that neither Apple Pay nor Watch were available in September, and the new iPhones were only on sale for the last 10 days.

List of places where you can use Apple Pay

Cody Lee ∙ October 20, 2014

Now that you've got iOS 8.1 installed, and Apple Pay set up, you're probably wondering where you can test out the new service. As we mentioned earlier, the Apple Store app (among others, at this point) has been updated with Apple Pay support, but what about physical stores?

Luckily Apple has you covered, and has posted a list of all the participating retailers that are supporting Apple Pay at launch. It's a decent-sized list, with over 30 national chains mentioned, including various clothing stores, department stores, restaurants and gas stations.

Apple Store app updated with Apple Pay support

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Folks looking to test out the just-launched Apple Pay service, but don't have the option to try it in-store, can download the latest version of the Apple Store app. Apple just posted an update for the digital storefront that adds support for the new one-touch mobile payment service.

Folks who have a compatible Apple Pay device, who have updated to iOS 8.1, can set it up either through the Passbook app or in Settings. Once you have a card on file, apps updated with support for the service will offer Apple Pay as a payment option during the checkout process.

Dropbox for iOS updated with support for iPhone 6 and Touch ID

Cody Lee ∙ October 19, 2014

Great news for Dropbox users this evening, as it appears the online storage service pushed out an update for its iOS client this weekend. Dubbed version 3.5, the new build of the app brings about support for the higher resolution displays of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and other enhancements.

In the change log, Dropbox lists a fix for previewing RTF files on iOS 8 and other general stability and performance improvements. It also notes that users with an iPhone 5s or later, running iOS 8 or later, now have the option to unlock their Dropbox accounts using Touch ID fingerprints.

You can now watch Jony Ive’s full Vanity Fair interview online

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Earlier this month, Apple SVP Jony Ive participated in a brilliant on stage interview at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit in San Francisco. The design chief talked about a wide range of topics, including Apple's design process and his thoughts on copycats.

As an executive of one of the most secretive companies in the world, Ive rarely speaks so candidly—especially on stage, so as you can imagine, the event went viral. Well now you can see what all of the commotion was about, as the full interview has been posted online.

Tumblr launches new desktop app in the Mac App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Tumblr today released a new desktop application for OS X Yosemite in the Mac App Store. Complementing the micro-blogging site's iOS client, the new app allows users to browse Tumblr, post to their own blogs, and perform various other actions.

The UI is very minimalistic, and goes great with the new design language in Yosemite. The app also takes advantage of a few OS X features such as Full Screen mode, and the Share button—you can post to Tumblr from almost anywhere on your Mac.

Apple removes Bose products from online store

Cody Lee ∙ October 17, 2014

Bose products disappeared from Apple's online store in several countries (still in at least the UK Store) this afternoon. The change, first spotted by 9to5Mac, follows rumors that the long-standing retail relationship between the two companies has soured.

Customers will no longer come across Bose speakers and headphones in device accessory pages on Apple.com, and a search for 'Bose' on Apple's website comes up empty. It's believed that we will soon start seeing similar removals from Apple's retail stores.

1Password 5 for OS X Yosemite released with refreshed design and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Adding to the list of growing OS X Yosemite software updates, AgileBits posted a new version of 1Password for Mac this morning. The update, which brings the client to version 5.0, offers full support for the just-released OS upgrade, complete with refreshed design and other improvements.

Among the improvements is enhanced iCloud sync, which is faster and more reliable than ever (note: iCloud sync now requires 1Password 5 on iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite to function). Wi-Fi sync also got an upgrade, and now allows users to sync attachments with devices on the same network.

Apple event recap: new iPads, Macs and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Well that’s all folks. Apple's iPad and Mac event has come, and gone. We'll continue talking about the announcements made today for many, many weeks, but the keynote itself and all of the speculation and rumors we heard leading up to it, are now over.

A lot has happened in the last 10 hours or so, and we understand that it might have been difficult to keep track of everything. So as usual, we’ve put together an awesome roundup for you of everything important that happened during and after today's event.