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 app gets auto-play feature for News Feed videos, and there’s not much you can do about it

Facebook updated its iOS client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 6.8. The update is a small one, but it does include one significant—and likely controversial—change: video clips will now play automatically in your News Feed.

Now, Facebook has been testing this feature since September, and I've had it for a while. And although the videos aren't extremely annoying, I was hoping they'd make one change before the public launch: give us a way to turn them off...

Apple experimenting with custom landing page for Angry Birds Go! in the App Store

Last month, Apple began testing the app trailer waters by hosting a video clip on the App Store for the new game Clumsy Ninja. The embedded clip had no voiceover or custom App Store branding, and it's the only one we've seen like this in the Store to date.

Now, it looks like Apple is running another experiment involving app and media discovery. We noticed this afternoon that it has given the new game Angry Birds Go! a custom landing page in the App Store with links to its related soundtrack and other apps...

Nest founder Tony Faddell spotted with Jony Ive’s (RED) Mac Pro

Remember last month when we told you that Jony Ive's one-of-a-kind Mac Pro sold for nearly $1 million at his Product (RED) auction? And do you remember thinking who in the world would pay that much money for a computer? Well it looks like the answer is Tony Faddell.

Photographer Kevin Abosch posted a handful of tweets this afternoon with photos of the 'father of the iPod' and Nest founder posing next to the (RED) Mac Pro, as well as the solid gold EarPods from the same auction. The two items combined sold for close to $1.5 million...

AT&T CEO says carriers can’t afford to continue offering major device subsidies

It would seem that T-Mobile was onto something when it announced that it was doing away with device subsidies earlier this year, because that appears to be where the whole industry is headed. Carriers simply can't afford to continue heavily subsidizing phones and tablets.

That's what AT&T's Randall Stephenson thinks anyway. Speaking at an investor conference this week, the CEO said that the current model is not economically viable. More customers are upgrading to smartphones now than ever before, and they're upgrading more frequently...

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas now available in the App Store

Rockstar's wildly popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is now available in the App Store. The game, which first launched on the PlayStation 2 all the way back in 2004, is now available on both the iPhone and iPad.

Rockstar says that this is their biggest mobile port ever. The game features over 70-hours of gameplay, enhanced visuals, and—for the first time ever—support for Apple's new Made-for-iOS controller technology in iOS 7...

Castro: a beautiful new podcast client for iPhone

If you've been having trouble finding a podcast client that fits you, you may want to check out Castro. Castro is a beautiful new podcast app for your iPhone that backs up its good looks with powerful features.

I should tell you up front that the app is for iOS 7 users only. You could tell it was designed specifically for the OS, as it's rife with transparent backgrounds, flat UI elements, and a smart, gesture-based interface...

T-Mobile brings back $0 down deal for select iPhone models

Good news for folks looking to grab an iPhone on the cheap before Christmas. T-Mobile is reviving its Black Friday special for a limited time, taking away the down payments for select iPhone models making them completely free up front.

The promotion starts December 11—that's today—and includes 16GB models of the iPhone 5s and 5c, along with other devices. This means that, if you qualify, you wouldn't have to pay for either phone until you got your first monthly bill...

Apple awarded new patent for head-mounted display system

Over the past couple of years, Apple has been filing and collecting patents on inventions involving wearable computing devices. And one of its particular areas of interest is in head-mounted display systems, which it first patented in 2006.

Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office published another patent from Apple that it has just been granted that covers a head-mounted display system. It looks like an Oculus Rift and is designed to enhance gaming, movies and more...

Twitter 6.0 is out with new design, DM photo-sharing and more

Twitter has updated its official iOS client today, bringing the app to version 6.0. The update is a fairly significant one, bringing about a new look and feel for the app, as well as photo-sharing for direct messages, improved search and more.

The new look pushes the UI of the Twitter app further into iOS 7 territory. There's more white spacing—the menu bar at the bottom is now all white— and texts and graphics seem flatter. And Twitter has added various other enhancements...

Facebook Messenger update adds one-touch Timeline access and more

Last month, Facebook released version 3.0 of its popular Messenger app. The update was significant because it featured an all-new UI design for the app, bringing its aesthetics more in line with those introduced by Apple in iOS 7.

Today, the client received another update, bringing it to version 3.1. This time Facebook added a few new convenience features that will allow you to access a person's Timeline or call them (toll-free) by simply tapping on their picture...

Report finds that Siri’s accuracy continues to improve under iOS 7

Gene Munster—yes the iTV guy—is out with a new report today looking at the state of Siri's ability to accurately answer and respond to queries. The Piper Jaffray analyst regularly assesses the accuracy of Apple's digital assistant.

In his latest look, Munster found that Siri has continued to improve with the release of iOS 7, particularly in its ability to properly interpret questions being asked and its overall performance when accessed in noisier situations...

Official Family Guy game coming to iOS and Android in 2014

Good news Family Guy fans. The San Francisco-based game studio TinyCo has just announced that it has teamed up with Fox Digital Entertainment to build an official mobile game for the popular TV show, which first debuted back in 1999.

Headed to Android and iOS in 2014, the title is said to feature an original story based on the show's 212 episodes. Fox says that in the game, players will adventure throughout the city of Quahog, recruiting and confronting popular characters...