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 testing new ‘Highlights’ summary feature on iOS

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2014

Over the weekend, Facebook posted a tiny 7.0 update for its iOS app with a change log that simply read 'bug fixes.' But as it turns out, the update was more significant than that as it activated a feature the company is testing on iOS right now called Highlights.

The feature is currently available to a subset of iOS users, in a new 'People' tab that is also in testing (replaces the Requests tab), and it offers a roundup of recent life events from your friends and family. Annoying UpWorthy posts and meme pics not included...

Apple expanding its iPhone trade-in program to Canada soon

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2014

In August of last year, Apple introduced an official trade-in program for iPhones. The deal gives customers an affordable way to upgrade to a new iPhone by getting a store credit based on the value of their current, working iPhone—up to $300 depending on model and condition.

Initially Apple only accepted trade-ins in-store in the US, but it has since expanded the program to the UK and India, and apparently it's landing in Canada soon. According to a new report, Apple Store employees in the country will begin their trade-in training this upcoming week...

Mad Catz introduces new Xbox-inspired iOS 7 controller ‘C.T.R.L.i’

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2014

Mobile World Congress, which has just begun in Barcelona, is not known for churning out mobile peripherals like CES or other big conferences, but we've got one for you today. It's a new MFi (made for iPhone) iOS 7-compatible game controller.

It's a wireless controller, with a removable clip for docking your device, and it's called the 'C.T.R.L.i.' It's made by Mad Catz, and if you have ever shopped around for third-party PC and console peripherals, you know that's a fairly well-known name...

Microsoft to cut Windows OEM fees 70% to counter Apple and other rivals

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

In an effort to stave off competition from Apple, Google and others, Microsoft is said to be cutting the cost of Windows 8.1 by as much as 70%. Now it sounds like this is for manufacturers only, who pre-install Windows on their devices, but it should still eventually turn into savings for consumers.

You see, Microsoft is hoping that by cutting the cost for manufacturers to install Windows on products less than $250, it'll entice PC makers to create and sell more cheaper models. It's also cutting the requirement for <$250 devices to complete logo certification in an effort to speed up their releases...

New report says Google is preparing to release its own smartwatch this year

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2014

If you're still in the camp of folks who believe that there won't be a market for wearables, you might want to take a look around. Pebble just launched a new smartwatch, Samsung just announced a new Gear watch and Apple reportedly has one in the oven.

Google is also believed to be working on a smartwatch, and according to insiders, it's almost finished. TechCrunch is reporting this weekend that the search giant is putting the finishing touches on a watch that runs Android and houses a full-color display...

Samsung introduces new Tizen-based ‘Gear 2’ smartwatches

Cody Lee ∙ February 22, 2014

As rumors regarding Apple's iWatch project continue to bounce about the web, Samsung introduced its second generation smartwatch tonight. The announcement came at Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, and actually includes two separate products: the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo.

Perhaps the most notable difference between these smartwatches and the one Samsung released 6 months ago is that these run the company's open source operating system called 'Tizen,' not Android. Samsung says that the switch in OSes results in easier use and much better battery life...

iOS 7.0.6 update patched a major SSL bug, OS X still vulnerable

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

When we told you that Apple had released iOS 7.0.6 to the public yesterday, all we really knew about the update was that it fixed an SSL connection verification issue. We didn't know it at the time, but it turns out that this was actually a major security flaw in iOS 7.

In a support document, Apple noted that the patch repaired a specific vulnerability that could allow an attacker with a "privileged network position" to capture or modify data protected by SSL/TLS. In other words, iOS was vulnerable to a 'man-in-the-middle attack.'

Evasi0n7 1.0.6 released with support for iOS 7.0.6

Cody Lee ∙ February 22, 2014

Following Apple's release yesterday of iOS 7.0.6, the evad3rs have released an update to their evasi0n7 jailbreak tool. The update, which brings the tool to version 1.0.6. included a fix for an SSL connection verification issue, which turned out to be a major security flaw in the operating system.

For this reason, we recommend that, if possible, you update to the latest firmware and then use evasi0n7 1.0.6 to jailbreak your device…

IntelliScreenX 7 beta set to land next week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

We've been getting asked on a fairly frequent basis over the past few weeks if we've heard anything about IntelliScreenX. The all-in-one Lock screen jailbreak tweak has been very popular with users since it first launched in late 2011, and it's one of the few remaining holdouts for iOS 7.

Well this morning we finally received word from Intelliborn, the developers behind the tweak, and it's good news. Apparently the team is almost finished with an iOS 7-compatible version of IntelliScreenX, and they are planning on releasing a beta version of it as early as next week...

Upcoming NES-inspired game ‘Venture Kid’ looks like a blast

Cody Lee ∙ February 22, 2014

Most gamers these days are drawn to titles that push the limits of the hardware found in their mobile devices with 3D graphics and complex gaming engines, but there are still a lot of folks out there that prefer the 8-bit platformers of the 80's and 90's.

Well if you happen to fall in the latter category, you have to check out this trailer for an upcoming game called Venture Kid. Its 8-bit graphics and synthesized soundtrack make this title seem like it would have felt right at home on the original Nintendo...

US Air Force replaces 5,000 BlackBerrys with iOS devices

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

The Air Force Times is reporting this week that the US military branch is replacing 5,000 of its BlackBerry devices with smartphones from Apple. The move is part of a broader strategy to exchange the legacy devices for modern handsets.

Eventually, the outlet says that all Air Force mobile users will be required to trade in their old BlackBerrys for Apple's iPhone, or other approved devices. This will be in addition to the 18,000 iPads the branch purchased in early 2013...

I love the 90’s: episodes of Doug, Ren & Stimpy and more go free on iTunes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

As a kid who grew up in the 90's, I spent a lot of my free time watching cartoons on Nickelodeon. I'm not too familiar with the stuff that's on now, but I know there was some really good shows on back then like Doug, Rugrats and Hey Arnold!

So you can imagine how excited I was when I came across the Nickelodeon Animation Showcase promotion in iTunes this afternoon. Apparently, Apple has made a deal with the network to offer episodes from some of the 90's TV shows for free...