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.

Pandora upping monthly ‘One’ fee, dropping annual subscriptions

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Pandora announced this week that it is going to making some significant changes to its Pandora One subscription service over the next couple of months. Most notably, it's going to be raising the monthly subscription cost and eliminating the annual option.

Citing rising licensing costs, Pandora says that it's raising its 'One' fee from $3.99 per month to $4.99 per month, and taking away the discounted annual plan altogether. The company says that royalty rates it pays to artists have increased 53% since it began...

Several users complaining of Hotspot issues in iOS 7.1

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

Folks having trouble with their Personal Hotspot feature in iOS 7.1 aren't alone. A number of users have been complaining of tethering issues since installing the latest iOS update, as evidenced by this 16-page thread in Apple's support forums.

Specifically, the problem seems to occur when trying to save custom APN settings in a device's Cellular menu. Apparently you can enter information into the text fields, but the values don't save and any attempt to make a connection errors out...

On-rails shooter Star Horizon now available in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

Great news gamers, that beautiful on-rails space shooter 'Star Horizon' we told you about earlier this month is now available in the App Store. This means you can download it now to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (running iOS 6 or later) and get to playing.

Star Horizon was developed by Tabasco Interactive, and is powered by the brawny Unity engine. The game follows John, a private in the service of the Federation, in his journey through the cosmos as he rescues friends and battles the enemy in his warship...

Yahoo launches new Classic Games site for Web, Android and iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Yahoo today announced a renewed push into gaming with the launch of its Classic Games site. The site features an easy-to-use design that allows you to browse for and play games across the Web, Android and iOS devices.

The company also introduced the Yahoo Games Network, a new platform for third-party game developers akin to Apple's Game Center. It offers various tools including analytics, player authentication, monetization, and social sharing...

Eddy Cue calls out inaccuracy in new post-Jobs Apple book

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

Early reviews are out for former WSJ writer Yukari Kane’s new book on post-Jobs Apple: 'Haunted Empire' ($14.99 in the iBooks Store), and they aren't good. Many readers believe that Kane fails to make her obvious preconceived point that Apple is doomed, and doesn't even appear to try.

Even Tim Cook had something to say about the book, telling CNBC yesterday that "this nonsense belongs with some of the other books I’ve read about Apple." And today, another executive has spoken out. SVP Eddy Cue says that the epic 'pen' story Kane tells in her book never happened...

Hackers caught using EA Games servers to phish for Apple IDs

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

According to a new report from security research firm Netcraft, Electronic Arts' servers have been compromised. Two websites from the video game publisher's domain have been hacked and are now hosting phishing pages setup to steal Apple ID and credit card information.

It works like this: when a potential victim arrives at one of the pages, they are asked to enter their Apple ID and password. Once completed, they're taken to a second page which asks for personal details and credit card info, and then redirected to the official Apple ID website...

Flappy Bird developer confirms he’s bringing back the hit game

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

Watch out Flappy Bird copycats, the original is making a comeback. Developer Dong Nguyen has confirmed with fans on Twitter that he is restoring his hit game to its rightful place in the App Store, although he hasn't given a specific launch date.

Nguyen is also on hand at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and several developers and gamers that have run in to him at the event have said the same thing: that Flappy Bird will be making its highly-anticipated comeback...

Vimeo snatches up video-making iPhone app Cameo

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

For the second time in the past year, Vimeo has acquired an iOS app-maker. Following its purchase of Echograph, an app for creating GIFs, in early 2013, the video site has bought Cameo, an iPhone application for making short, high quality movies.

If you've never heard of Cameo before, that's probably because it just launched in October of last year. But it's been turning heads during its 6 months in the App Store—we named it one of our apps of the week, and Apple gave it a 'Best of 2013' award...

Apple named most valuable ‘billion dollar brand’ in the US

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

A new report was released yesterday by brand consulting agency Brand Finance, naming the top "billion dollar brands" in the United States. The list was compiled estimating the royalty rate that would be charged to use a company's brand and combing that with expected future revenue.

Unsurprisingly, Apple was ranked number one by a long shot, with a value of $104.7 billion. The iPad-maker is the most valuable company in the world in terms of market cap, and has taken the top spot several times in other brand value lists. Google came in second place at $68.6 billion...

RollerCoaster Tycoon coming soon to iOS

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

I'm what you would call a '90's' kid. I grew up during the decade, watching cartoons like Doug and Rugrats and playing video games like Sim City. And over the years, I've seen a lot of these video games get remade for,or ported to, iOS—except for my favorite one: RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Well I'm happy to announce that this is going to change soon. Atari has confirmed via the original game's landing page that it is working on a mobile version of RollerCoaster Tycoon, and it will be coming to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch shortly. Oh and don't worry, we have a trailer...

You could be using your iPhone to pay for your burgers next month

Cody Lee ∙ March 18, 2014

Bloomberg is reporting this afternoon that Burger King, the second-largest burger chain in the US, is introducing an app next month that will allow customers to pay for their Whoppers with smartphones. The outlet says the move is part of an ongoing effort to lure in young diners.

According to a company spokesman, the program will launch in early April in select stores, and should be available in all of Burger King's 7,000+ American locations within a "few months." The chain is also looking at adding the ability to order food and drinks for in-store pickup...