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.

MySwitcher Makes iPhone Multitasking Better

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 2, 2018

When Apple introduced multitasking into their iOS platform, millions of iDevice users rejoiced. Although it was a bit of a struggle at first, as soon as developers started updating their apps to support multitasking, it became a really useful feature.

But as with most things Apple, what you see is what you get. There is no stock option to customize this multitasking bar. But luckily for us jailbroken folk, there's an answer. MySwitcher from BigBoss is available in Cydia and is more than up to the task of customizing your multitask bar...

New iPhone App Development Software Available

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 5, 2018

Do you aspire to be an iPhone developer? Maybe, you have some million dollar ideas and just had no clue where to start. Well, allow me to point you in the right direction. Apple's iOS App development software, Xcode, has been a quiet factor in the huge success of the App Store.

Integrated, all in one, easy to use tools are a few things that make Xcode so attractive to developers. It's everything you need to make an app, from start to finish, and even includes an iOS simulator so you can see what your app will look like on the actual device. Xcode 4 is free to registered members of Apple's developer program, and available now. Not a member? No sweat....

iPad 2 Described as Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary

Cody Lee ∙ March 10, 2011

Although we mentioned some things we didn't like about the iPad 2 yesterday, many first round reviews are still calling it the best tablet on the market. That could also be due to lack of competition.

While there will be many competitors launching their first tablets this year (HP, Blackberry, Microsoft?), Apple is on the brink of releasing their 2nd iteration of their smash hit, the iPad. Selling 15 million iPads in its first 9 months, Apple's iPad hoarded 73% of the tablet industry in the 4th quarter of last year. But do the folks at Cupertino have another juggernaut on their hands?

It would appear so. Judging by the general consensus amongst early iPad 2 testers, the new features make for a better tablet experience. Confirming Apple's claims, many reviewers are finding the new iPad to be noticeably lighter, especially with extended use.

Macworld is also reporting that this is the fastest iOS device ever, by a long shot. Other testers seem to agree. Slashgear even brags that their iPad 2 was able to software decode a side loaded 1.4GB .avi file on the fly using Oplayer, while watching it, without lag or stutter. Something, they say, the original iPad more than struggled with.

There were mixed reviews on battery life. Some sites reported the iPad 2 exceeded the original by giving them 10 hours and 26 minutes of continuous playback. Others reported just under the 10 hour mark.

So it's faster, it's lighter, it has the same 10 hour battery life, but what about those new cameras? Well it's easy to see why Apple doesn't go too much into detail about the cameras. Multiple sources are describing the new cameras as taking mediocre stills and only decent video. I assume we'll see higher resolution cameras in the next iPad, in conjunction with better display.

Love it or hate it, Apple seems to have another hit on their hands. Starting at $499, the iPad 2 has a more attractive entry price than most of its competitors. Though the iPad 2 is more evolutionary than revolutionary, it still has to be the best consumer tablet on the market right now. Walter S. Mossberg, of The Wallstreet Journal, thinks the new features aren't enough to warrant upgrading from the current iPad, what do you think?

Will you be in line tomorrow at 5 PM ? Let us know below!

‘ON Voicefeed’ Makes Customizable Voicemail Greetings for iPhone Easy

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 3, 2018

When Sebastien suggested that I try out this new voicemail app from Orange Vallee, I was definitely skeptical. I've tried 3rd party visual voicemail apps before on Blackberrys and Android alike, and have always been disappointed. I've yet to try any on the iPhone though, and this promised a few new tricks so I figured why not.

The download is free and available here. Where the other visual voicemail programs floundered, this one shined. The most dreaded part about setting these 3rd party voicemail services up is the activation process. ON Voicefeed, like most other services, requires you to setup an account. This is done by entering in a tiny bit of info and authorizing it with a code that is sent directly to your iPhone via text...

iOS 4.3 Brings iTunes Home Sharing

Cody Lee ∙ March 9, 2011

We announced earlier today that iOS 4.3 is now available to download. Among many of the new features highlighted by Steve Jobs and company during the iPad 2 announcement last week, was iTunes Home Sharing.

This will give you the ability to stream music from your iTunes library, to any iDevice in range of your WiFi. This is different than Remote, an iOS application by Apple, that lets you control iTunes playback on your computer with your iPhone. So what's the advantage of iTunes Home Sharing? That's easy....

iOS 4.3 is Now Live

Cody Lee ∙ March 9, 2011

As we reported yesterday, iOS 4.3 became available for download today at 10 A.M. PST.iOS 4.3 is available for iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iTouch 4G and 3G. Oh and I almost forgot, iOS 4.3 is for GSM iPhone only. That means that if you have a Verizon iPhone, then no iOS 4.3 for you!

As a reminder, jailbroken iPhone users, please stay away from the new firmware until the official 4.3 jailbreak has been announced. The new software could potentially disable some of your jailbroken applications.

With several jailbreak methods already working on beta versions of iOS 4.3, an official jailbreak can't be too far off. That being said, the long awaited iPhone 4 unlock shouldn't be too far off. As always stay tuned to iDB for the latest in jailbreaking information...

Control Your Mac From Across the Room with Your iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 2, 2018

Wireless keyboard and mouse solutions can be pretty expensive. So if you find yourself in need of controlling your Mac or PC from across the room, get ready to shell out some serious cash. Apple's own bluetooth keyboard will run you $69.99 and the bluetooth mouse the same price.

Other wireless solutions from Logitech and other hardware companies get a little less expensive, but nothing under $10. What if I told you, using your existing iPhone, you could control your Mac or PC for just $4.99? Here's how....

AT&T iPhone 4 Beats Android 4G in Upload Test

Cody Lee ∙ March 9, 2011

4G Android handset users are pretty upset over their not so 4G upload speeds. This past month, AT&T rolled out their first pair of 4G phones which operate on the carrier's 4G HSPA+ network. Even though AT&T has upgraded their entire network to HSPA+, it is only available in areas that have the new backhaul to support it.

How fast are these 4G devices? AT&T is claiming that in areas where 4G is lit up, they are seeing download speeds of up to 6 Mbps. There is no mention of upload speed. But Android users are flocking to web forums, claiming their 4G phones are losing to 3G iPhones in data speed tests....

Top 6 Reasons the iPad 2 Sucks

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 30, 2016

As usual, Apple has seemingly created a juggernaut as tablet competitors are already going back to the drawing board after the March 2nd announcement. But is all the media attention and strategic marketing enough to crown Apple the king of the tablets?

Maybe. Although they might have done enough to please the fanboys, I'm going to play devil's advocate and give you 6 good reasons why the iPad 2 sucks.

Screen Resolution

Rumors were flying left and right about the iPad 2 housing a Retina display, same as the iPhone. The iPad 2 will actually retain the same screen resolution from the iPad, so no upgrade there. With HD video recording capabilities and an iMovie.app, why wouldn't you want a nice, sharp screen to view your content?

Weak Cameras

Where's FaceTime HD? Apple's latest MacBook update added FacetimeHD, a High Def version of their popular video chat app. The rear camera on the new iPad says HD, but doesn't give megapixel count. There is also no LED flash. Apple mentions advanced backside illumination anyways for better low light shots, but I would prefer an LED flash.

Aging 3G Technology

We saw it with the iPhone. Apple tends to not jump on new wireless network technology. iPhone 3G came about a year after areas were seeing 3G speeds. The optimistic were hoping to see 4G LTE in the new iPad. But with battery life and reliability still questionable on the new technology, they decided to stick with the aging 3G technology. You could have at least built the hardware in and give users the option to upgrade at a later time, when 4G was in more markets, like the Motorola Xoom tablet

Still No Expandable Memory?

Some of the earlier iPad 2 rumors suggested it might have a Micro SD card slot for expandable, removable memory. Well we haven't seen it on a mobile Apple product yet. iPods, iPhones, and the iPad have all had SSD drives with no option to upgrade. Many, in fact all, of Apple's major smartphone and tablet competition house MicroSD card slots so it'll be interesting to see if they ever cave.

Still No I/O option?

We were hoping to see USB or even Thunderbolt (Apple's new lightning fast I/O) come to the iPad 2 but all we got was an HDMI chord. Which is nice, don't get me wrong, it just would have been nice to get an actual USB port to read jump drives, and attach cameras and other peripherals without the need for adapters and OS tweaks.

Still No Flash

Now there was nobody expecting this to change. Apple has made its beef with Adobe's dominant web platform, Flash, very public. In fact none of Apple's iDevices run Flash. But 80% of the 100 most visited websites use Flash. Although it hasn't seemed to affect sales at all, all of Apple's major competition in the tablet industry are Flash capable.

Now all that being said, I think Apple's new iPad will be very successful. In fact, I'll probably sell my original iPad on eBay and go and get the iPad 2. But I will only be paying $100 difference or so. If I had to shell out another $500 for the iPad 2, I wouldn't do it. This model doesn't have enough new features to justify spending that kind of money, again.

Do you think the iPad 2 sucks? If so, or if not, raise your voice by leaving a comment below.

Apple Working on Video Ringtones?

Cody Lee ∙ March 8, 2011

Patently Apple, a website well known for bringing Apple's patents to the masses, has uncovered a good one. The photo above is from a patent filed late last year by Apple engineers Brian McKnight and Michael Neuman.

The documents describe methods for creating video ringtones in iOS. The technology would allow users to automatically use audio and video from iTunes and iMovie to create custom alerts for each incoming call...

Peel, Not Just Another TV Remote App for iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 17, 2018

Peel's journey has been an interesting one. It started last fall when we started hearing about an FCC filing from a Santa Clara start-up company named Zelfy. The product's tagline was "every remote and TV guide now on your phone." Fast forward to January of this year, and we get some more information about the mysterious Peel Fruit.

The Peel system uses an IR dongle, built into a fruit shaped casing, that must sit somewhere in IR range of all of your components. The plastic shaped fruit works like a middleman between your iPhone (or iPad for that matter) and your home theater. How does the fruit receive commands from your iPhone? Wifi of course...

Google Instant Previews Available on iOS

Cody Lee ∙ March 8, 2011

Google is constantly innovating features when it comes to web searching. They've been pioneers in the search industry for many years, and they don't show any signs of stopping. One of their most recent innovations, Instant Preview, has officially made its way to iOS devices.

The feature is actually pretty handy. If you haven't used it on your desktop yet, it's the little magnifying glass that shows up next to each search result link when using Google. Clicking this magnifying glass opens up a thumbnail preview of the website in a nice overview...