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.

Google I/O Developer Conference slated for June 25-26 this year

Cody Lee ∙ February 19, 2014

Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai just announced via Google+ that the company's annual I/O event is scheduled for June 25-26 this year. For those unfamiliar with the conference, it's a lot like Apple's yearly WWDC gathering in San Francisco.

The timing is particularly interesting in that Google held I/O in May last year, well before Apple's WWDC event. It would seem that this time the search giant is hoping to get a glimpse at what Apple has cooked up this year before divulging all of its own secrets...

Emulator GBA4iOS 2.0 is out with support for iPad, iOS 7 controllers and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Earlier this week, we told you that a big update for the popular emulator GBA4iOS was coming soon. The developers said that it would be launching today, February 19, and they have delivered on that promise. GBA4iOS 2.0 is now available for installation.

Among the many additions to the Game Boy emulator is iPad support, iOS 7 controller support and Dropbox integration. More importantly, the app is now much easier to install, as it does not require you to be jailbroken or to change your device's date...

Microsoft relaunches SkyDrive as OneDrive, adds referral bonus storage

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Microsoft announced a few weeks ago that it would be changing the name of its SkyDrive cloud service to OneDrive, and this morning the full rebrand went into effect. This doesn't mean much, as existing apps will continue to work with the service.

In fact, the iOS app has already been rebranded, and it looks like Windows, Mac and Android apps will be updated today with the new name. But there are a few changes being made that are worth noting, like the new Dropbbox-like referral bonuses...

BlackBerry CEO ‘outraged’ over T-Mobile’s iPhone offer

Cody Lee ∙ February 19, 2014

It looks like T-Mobile's targeted iPhone offer didn't just upset BlackBerry fans. The Canadian handset-maker's CEO John Chen says that he and his team are also outraged, especially since their long-time business partner didn't contact them beforehand.

For those that missed it, T-Mobile has been sending out iPhone promos with the text "great offer for BlackBerry users," and it caused quite the backlash on Twitter and other social networks from loyal fans. Here's what Chen had to say about the ordeal...

Echofon Pro update adds new profile design, photo filters and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

When you talk about third-party Twitter clients, two offerings tend to come up first: Tweetbot and Twitterrific. But there are several other good options available, including Echofon, which just received a significant update today.

Released as version 7.2.5, the update brings about a number of improvements including an all-new profile design, with profile headers and better support for viewing push notifications. And it brings back photo filters to the iPhone...

Google Translate updated with iOS 7 keyboard, support for more languages

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Google posted an update for its popular Translate iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.1. The update includes various UI improvements, including the new iOS 7 keyboard and status bar, as well as support for new languages.

The new keyboard is great, as it brings the app in line with other iOS 7 apps, and the same goes for the transparent status bar. And as for the additional handwriting languages support, it includes Arabic, Hebrew, Maltese, and more...

Former Apple ad man Ken Segall explains why the iPhone 5c flopped

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

Ken Segall doesn't mince words when it comes to talking about his previous employer. The former Apple ad man has a track record of calling it like he sees on his 'Observatory' blog, where he's talked about everything from the iPhone's name, to the successfulness of Samsung.

In his latest blog post, Segall attempts to explain why the iPhone 5c has been such a failure. Apple hasn't come out and said it, obviously, but there's been quite a bit of evidence suggesting the handset hasn't performed as well as it hoped. And Ken has a few possible reasons why...

iOS 7.1 said to be launching ‘around March 15’ with improved device management

Cody Lee ∙ February 18, 2014

Apple has seeded 5 developer betas of iOS 7.1, and it's expected to push it to the public within the next month. It'll be the largest update to the mobile operating system since iOS 7 landed last fall, and will feature a number of improvements.

Now just what those will be, we don't know yet. We've seen minor performance and UI tweaks in the betas, but not much in the way of new features. A new report, however, says 7.1 could bring about new mobile device management tools...

Apple posts update for iTunes Connect web portal

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Apple has posted an update for its iTunes Connect portal this evening. Developers use this portal to track and manager their App Store apps, and tonight's update has brought about a new Sales and Trends sections that allows them to better parse sales data.

The move should appease developers, who have long-complained that the iTunes Connect portal lacked useful reporting tools. In fact, many developers have forgone using iTunes Connect entirely for app figures, opting for other analytics services like App Annie...

New ‘AirPlay Recorder’ Mac app lets you save songs from iTunes Radio

Cody Lee ∙ February 17, 2014

DoubleTwist, the maker of the popular doubleTwist Media Player and AirSync, the app that lets you wirelessly sync your iTunes data, has released a new app for the Mac today. It's called AirPlay Recorder, and it's designed to record audio using AirPlay.

The app first appeared on Android back in January, and it essentially tricks iTunes into thinking it is an AirPlay device so that it will start streaming music. From there it records audio—including that from Apple's recently launched iTunes Radio service...

Philips taking on Apple’s iBeacon tech with smart lights

Cody Lee ∙ February 17, 2014

Philips has officially joined the onslaught of competitors looking to go head-to-head with Apple's iBeacon geolocation technology. At a retailer in northern Germany, the company is testing out a lighting unit which includes a built-in beacon that can relay information to smartphones.

It works a lot like many of the iBeacon solutions we've seen thus far. When shoppers enter a store, opening a companion app on their smartphone reveals a map and their location, and from there, they can search for various product, get directions to them, and receive other information...

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.2 build 13C62 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 20, 2018

Apple has seeded the seventh OS X 10.9.2 beta to registered Mac developers this afternoon. The last few betas have each come about a week apart, but this one comes less than a week after beta 6.

The new build is available to all registered Mac developers through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store, or as a full download via the Mac section of Apple’s online developer portal…