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.

Samsung unveils new Galaxy S4 handset

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Say what you will about Samsung, but the company has managed to distance itself from the other Android device makers to become Apple's greatest competitor in the smartphone space. The two of them, in fact, account for a majority of all handset profits.

So you can understand why we've been so interested in seeing Samsung's new flagship handset, the Galaxy S4, which it just unveiled onstage at its New York-based Unpacked event. And as usual, we've put together a handy roundup of all of the highlights...

Apple now offering refurbished 4th gen iPads and iPad minis

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Good news today for folks looking to score a fourth gen iPad, or iPad mini, on the cheap. Apple has, for the first time, listed refurbished units of both of the tablets for sale on its website.

The discounts aren't significant—up to 9% off of minis, and 10% off of 4th-generation iPads, depending on the configuration—but they're good enough to knock $50 off of some models...

How Apple are you? Infographic puts fanboys to the test

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 1, 2016

Apple has long been known for its army of loyal followers. They use Macs and iPhones, and swear by them. And they constantly argue with Android and Windows users that their choice of platform is superior to theirs. You know, fanboys.

But there's more to being an Apple fanboy than just carrying around an iPhone, and scoffing at the competition. So to help separate the real ones from the fakes, the folks over at Mackeeper came up with this 'How Apple are you?' infographic...

China Mobile announces major LTE push ahead of rumored iPhone launch

Cody Lee ∙ March 14, 2013

China Mobile announced today that it's going to be spending a staggering $7 billion on its LTE network this year, setting the stage for what could be a late iPhone 5 launch. The carrier's current network standard doesn't properly support the popular popular handset.

In fact, China Mobile—the largest wireless provider in the world by subscriber base—is one of the few remaining major carriers in the world that doesn't offer Apple's smartphone. But recent chatter indicates that there's a good chance that could change this year...

Google to shut down Google Reader on July 1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

In a new blog post entitled "A second spring of cleaning" this afternoon, Google announced that it was going to be closing down a number of its projects and services over the next several months.

Included in the shutdowns is Google Reader—a popular RSS news aggregation service, which a number of apps and users still depend on to serve up headlines. Keep reading for more details....

Readdle releases free version of ‘Calendars’ for iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

If you've ever perused through the Productivity section of the App Store, chances are you've come across one of Readdle's apps. Titles like Documents, Scanner Pro and Printer Pro are staples in the category.

The firm also has a popular calendar app, called 'Calendars,' which it has rebranded today to 'Calendars+.' It did this to make room for a new free version of the app, which includes many of its major features...

Twitter reportedly readying standalone music discovery app for iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Last year, Twitter acquired popular music discovery service We Are Hunted. The company developed proprietary search technology than can continuously scan the Internet to identify trending new music around the world.

And according to a new report, Twitter is getting ready to launch a new standalone app based on that technology called Twitter Music. The app, which is expected to debut on iOS, will bring music discovery to the masses...

Apple adds Flyover and 3D buildings to several new cities in Maps

Cody Lee ∙ March 13, 2013

When Tim Cook wrote his open letter last September, apologizing for the quality of the new Maps app, he said that Apple would work on it non-stop until it lived up to its incredibly high standards. And it has been.

Though it hasn't garnered much media attention, Apple has made a number of improvements to its Maps app over the past six months, including adding Flyover support and 3D building images to several new cities...

Training docs indicate Staples will sell iPhones, iPads and Macs as well

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

We've known for a while now that Apple-friendly peripherals and accessories were headed to US Staples stores. The retailer already sells the products in Canada and internationally. And late last month, they started selling them in their US webstore.

But according to newly leaked internal documents, the stores are going to be offering more than just plug-ins and add-ons. The images, which are believed to be of associate training materials, suggest they'll be selling Macs and iOS devices as well...

Security firm says iOS configuration profiles pose malware threat

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Last week, Apple's Marketing SVP Phil Schiller tweeted out a link to a mobile malware report that showed Android devices accounted for a staggering 79% of new mobile threats last year, while iOS devices accounted for just 0.7%.

Of course, the fact that he tweeted the link was far more surprising than the report's data. After all, we've known for years that Android is far more susceptible to mobile malware than iOS. Right? Security experts say not so fast...

Chrome for iOS updated to fix jailbreak-related startup crash

Cody Lee ∙ March 12, 2013

Last week, Google rolled out an update for its Chrome browser on iOS. The update included a new sharing feature, the ability to quickly view your browsing history, and unfortunately, a major bug for jailbroken devices.

Users on jailbroken iPhones and iPads noticed that after installing the update, Chrome would crash upon startup. And it's a good thing we found a fix for it when we did, because Google is just now getting around to it...

Alleged Google Now for iOS promo video surfaces on YouTube

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

This is pretty interesting. An alleged promotional video showcasing a Google Now—Google's impressive voice assistant that debuted in Android Jelly Bean last summer—for iOS app surfaced on YouTube this afternoon.

The big deal here is that while Google added some Now elements to its iOS Search app last fall, it kept location and contextual-based features exclusive to Android. But if the promo clip is real, that could be changing soon...