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.

Dialer Shield: Stop Accidental Screen Presses While Talking on Your iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ June 13, 2011

It's no secret that jailbreaking has made owning iDevices more enjoyable. If there is something that you don't like about your iPhone or iPad, chances are that the jailbreak community has a utility or app that'll help.

Dialer Shield is certainly a testament to that, as it provides an easy solution to a fairly annoying problem. Have you ever been talking on your iPhone and accidentally pressed End Call or another function with your cheek? Dialer Shield solves this by locking your iPhone screen during phone calls...

How to Jailbreak Your Older iPhone or iPod Touch Using Whited00r

Cody Lee ∙ June 13, 2011

Earlier today we did a post about Whited00r, a custom firmware built for older Apple ARM6 devices. It includes built-in tweaks and gives you the option to remove unwanted features like Spotlight to make your device faster.

Whited00r has been out for a while, but it's kind of flown under the radar. There's still millions of these older devices floating around, so we figured we'd give folks an easy walkthrough on how to install Whited00r on your older iPhone or iPod touch...

Whited00r Firmware Provides Jailbreak and Unlock for Older iDevices

Cody Lee ∙ June 13, 2011

We've gotten some complaints in the past that we don't give older iPhones any lovin'. The truth is, we try to keep up with innovation in the jailbreak community and there just typically isn't much of that going on for devices older than the 3GS. Especially since Apple stopped supporting them.

But for folks with older iDevices that really want to join in on the jailbreaking festivities, check out Whited00r. If you haven't heard about this cool little project, it's essentially a firmware file that has been modified to include multitasking, video recording and oh yeah, it's jailbroken...

Want to Know What Apple’s New Campus Will Really Look Like? [Infographic]

Cody Lee ∙ June 13, 2011

Uh oh, looks like someone has a bad case of the Mondays. Well, what better way to start off your week than with a charming infographic? By now you've probably all heard of Apple's new spaceship-looking building that will be built in Cupertino.

The new structure was introduced by Steve Jobs himself at a recent Cupertino City Council meeting and is slated to open by 2015. The completely circular building will house around 12,000 employees and will be created without using a single piece of straight glass. So, what will the new campus be like on the inside?

New in iOS 5: Tone Store to Download Customized Email and SMS Tones

Cody Lee ∙ June 13, 2011

Apple's iOS software design strategy is interesting, to say the least. For example, many people wonder why it took the company nearly a year to implement the App Store after launching the iPhone. It took another year after that to add copy/paste and picture messaging features.

Apple excluded unnecessary items in early builds of iOS, demonstrating a quality-over-quantity sort of approach to adding new features. Luckily, iOS 5 seems to be finally bringing many of those omitted functions to the iPhone. Who's been dying to change the email tone?

Sn0wbreeze Updated to 2.8b1, Now Supports iOS 5 Jailbreak

Cody Lee ∙ June 13, 2011

Apple announced a major software update for iDevices last week, iOS 5. The new firmware will introduce over 200 new features in iOS, and is expected to seriously impact the jailbreak community.

But jailbreakers haven't skipped a beat since the beta version of iOS 5 rolled out last Monday. Within 24 hours of the release, jailbreak software was updated to support the new firmware. Now you can add Sn0wbreeze to that list of iOS 5 compatible tools...

Nuance Voice Recognition is in iOS 5 After All

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2011

The entire tech industry watched as Scott Forstall outlined Apple's 10 most prized (or most ready) new features in iOS 5 last Monday. To everyone's surprise, the entire presentation went on without any mention of the rumored Apple/Nuance partnership.

TechCrunch and other media outlets reported multiple times last month on sources claiming that Apple and Nuance had struck a deal to bring legitimate voice recognition technology to iOS. But WWDC came and went without a word from either company...

New in iOS 5: High Quality YouTube Playback

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2011

In case you were wondering if folks were done uncovering new features in iOS 5, think again. Out of the 200 new features Apple has added to iOS, I believe we are on like #70 or so.

The latest find comes from iDevice hackers @Chronic and @Sonny Dickson, who have managed to gain access to internal settings in iOS 5. Apparently the new iOS will not only offer FaceTime over 3G, but high quality YouTube playback as well...

Apple’s Battle for App Store Trademark Continues

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2011

One thing is certain in the tech industry: If you ever become more successful than others feel you should be, you become an instant target for a lawsuit. And with the way some companies are performing right now, patent and trademark law seems to be a safe bet for a business.

A particular case that has been highlighted recently is the court battle between Apple and Amazon. While the Cupertino company is known for their fierce legal team, they may have a tough time proving that the term "App Store," is solely their property...

Apple’s iCloud Using Microsoft and Amazon Cloud Services?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

After months of rumors and speculation, Apple revealed the long-awaited iCloud last week. The free service replaces MobileMe for $99/year, and, considering of all the new features, it's expected to be quite popular.

iCloud is available to all Apple account holders, which Apple estimates to be in the 200 million range. So how can iCloud withstand all that traffic? Aside from their massive NC data center and 12 petabyte digital locker, Apple appears to be using rival cloud services...

Apple Files Motion to Intervene in Lodsys Litigation

Cody Lee ∙ June 11, 2011

When Lodsys originally filed their complaints last month, everyone looked at Apple for answers. Though the Cupertino company has been relatively quiet concerning the Lodsys litigation, their legal department is finally starting to make some noise.

iOS developers have been holding vigilant to see if Apple would step up and help them defend against the threats from the patent licensing firm. After a cease and desist letter failed to stop the lawsuits, Apple has decided to get legally involved...

Two iPhones Going Into Space to Help Conduct Research

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

As if the iPhone 4 needed any more publicity, the device is about to get some intergalactic marketing. Cult of Mac is reporting that a pair of iPhone 4s running research software are headed for the International Space Station next month.

The 2 devices are set to launch into the stratosphere on July 8, and will be running SpaceLab software. The iOS app will help the ISS crew determine their relative position in space as well as aid in several experiments. Want to get hands on with the app?