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.

iDB is ready for Apple’s iPhone event tomorrow, are you?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, tomorrow is a huge day for Apple. The company is expected to unveil not one, but two new smartphones: an iPhone 5S, which will replace the current flagship iPhone 5 handset, and an all-new low-cost 'iPhone 5C' model.

We're assuming there won’t be a live stream of tomorrow’s presser (although you never know), and a clip of the event won’t likely be available until hours after it’s over. But never fear, iDB will be here all day providing you with coverage and commentary…

Make sure to stay away from these fake unlock and jailbreak sites

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Perhaps one of the biggest problems in the jailbreak community today, apart from piracy, is the growing amount of scammers. These are sites or services that promise to provide users with jailbreak and unlock solutions, in return for money or other malicious intent.

And what's worse is, often times these services are very misleading, claiming to do things such as "jailbreak iOS 6.1.4" or "downgrade from iOS 6 to iOS 5"—which we all know aren't possible yet. So we're highlighting some of these sites in order to warn users to avoid them...

Car-maker Nissan unveils new Nismo smartwatch, and it’s actually pretty awesome

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

To say the smartwatch industry is on the verge of exploding would be an understatement. In addition to the Pebbles and the i'm watches, both Samsung and Sony just made major plays in the space. And rumor has it that Apple is also working on a wearable.

But out of all of the smartwatches we've seen thus far, this new one from Nissan might just be the best-looking. That's right, believe it or not, the auto-maker just introduced a connected watch of its own called the 'Nismo.' And it's actually pretty awesome...

User files class-action lawsuit against Apple over ‘Breaking Bad’ iTunes confusion

Cody Lee ∙ September 9, 2013

Last month, Apple upset tens of thousands of Breaking Bad fans when it posted on iTunes that those who had already purchased what they thought to be the entire final season of the popular series would have to pay again for the final 8 episodes.

It was the TV network's fault— it was AMC's decision to split the fifth (final) season into two parts. But iTunes user Noam Lazebnik, of Ohio, feels that Apple deserves some of the blame too, and he's filed a class-action lawsuit against the company...

Sony introduces the PS Vita TV, an Apple TV competitor that plays games

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

It appears that the PlayStation 4 isn't the only new gaming hardware we'll be seeing from Sony this year. The Tokyo-based company has just announced PlayStation Vita TV, a 6 x 10 cm console and set-top box that can connect to your TV.

The device is based on PS Vita hardware, and besides playing Vita, PSP and PS1 games, it also offers access to a range of entertainment services and PS4-specific features. And, priced at $100, it's aimed squarely at Apple's set-top box...

Amazon posts ‘required’ Kindle app update for users upgrading to iOS 7

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

With the public release of iOS 7 on the horizon, users should expect to have to install a number of app updates over the next several weeks. Developers have a lot of work to do to prepare their apps for the big upcoming change.

Amazon took the first step this weekend, issuing what it is calling a 'required' update for its Kindle app. The company says that users of the popular e-book service must download the new version prior to upgrading to iOS 7...

Microsoft’s Xbox Music app now available in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Music fans can now add another streaming music service to their list of options on iOS. Microsoft quietly released an official app for its Xbox Music platform this weekend, which allows users to stream music to their iPhone or iPod.

The app features ad-free streaming from Microsoft’s stout catalog of over 10 million songs, with the ability to create custom stations and playlists. And of course, you can then sync those playlists with other Xbox Music-capable devices...

Instagram hits 150 million users as it prepares to introduce advertising

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

When Facebook first announced that it was purchasing Instagram last year, a lot of folks were afraid it would ruin the popular photo-sharing network. They feared Zuckerberg's group would come in, add a bunch of ads, and mess up the whole experience.

But here we are, nearly 18 months later, and nothing of the sort has happened yet. Instagram is thriving—in fact, it just announced that it has surpassed 150 million users—and there's not a single ad in sight. But that doesn't mean that they aren't coming...

Everything we think we know about the iPhone 5S

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

It's been a long, long time, or so it seems, since Apple unveiled the iPhone 5. And while the handset has done decidedly well for the company, it's been close to a year now, and consumers are ready for something new.

If our intel is accurate, they shouldn't have to wait much longer. Apple sent out invites last week to a media event set to take place on Tuesday, September 10 at its Cupertino, California campus. And it's widely expected to use the stage to unveil a new handset.

In fact, most of the evidence suggests that, for the first time in its history, Apple will unveil two new iPhones next week. One is the replacement for the flagship iPhone 5, believed to be called the iPhone 5S, and the other is an all-new budget model, allegedly called the iPhone 5C.

Now, Christian has already done a great job going over what we expect to see from the latter, so it's time to take a look at the former. Here's everything we think we know about the iPhone 5S…

iPhone 5 running iOS 6.1.4 successfully jailbroken

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Good news for the jailbreak community this afternoon, as developer winocm has announced that he has successfully jailbroken iOS 6.1.4 on his iPhone 5. This is the first time, that I know of, that the firmware has been publicly hacked.

Winocm has been very busy lately, announcing and demonstrating his jailbreak for iOS 6.1.3—which we went hands on with last week—and now this. His progress is good news for folks who lost their jailbreak upgrading past iOS 6.1.2...

Alleged iPhone 5S spotted with China Compulsary Certificate markings

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

There's been a lot of talk recently about Apple's upcoming iPhone plans for China. The company is expected to unveil two new handsets next week, the 5S and the 5C, and rumor has it that it just inked a deal with the country's largest carrier.

So as you can imagine, that makes this next iPhone 5S shell leak rather interesting. Because while we've already seen a number of photos and videos of the handset's rear casing, this particular one has China Compulsory Certificate markings...

Apple updates apps with support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 7. Wait, what?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple posted tiny updates for a number of its apps this week, including iMovie, iPhoto, Pages and more. And while the updates themselves seem insignificant—most of their change logs read "addresses compatibility issues"—they may not be.

It's been discovered that all of these apps, and several others from third party developers, now show that they've been "optimized for iPhone 6" in their Compatibility sections on the App Store. Does this mean the iPhone 5S is actually the iPhone 6?

Update: as noted by several commenters below, it appears that Apple either has a major glitch in its iTunes backend, or is totally trolling us. Users are seeing "optimized for iPhone 6, 7" and so on, depending on their region. We have updated the title of the post to reflect this.