Free iPhone Ringtones using iTunes
Tuesday 13th January 2009 by Andy in How to Guides, Mobile Accessories, Mobile Content.
Being able to choose your own ringtone on your phone is something that should be pretty easy, but not on the iPhone. Apple say that you can buy your ringtones through iTunes, but I’ve never found any on there. So how do you get round this? How do you get your own ringtone on your iPhone?
Its actually pretty simple, and even more importantly its free and legal! All you need to create your own ringtones is iTunes on a PC or Mac and a song in either MP3 or AAC format that is DRM free. DRM files are normally songs that have been purchased online from places such as the iTunes Store, or imported to your computer using Windows Media Player.
Before you start, you need to check some settings in iTunes. In the Preferences window, click on “Import Settings” on the General Tab and make sure that "import using" is set to AAC Encoder.
If you’re on a PC, you’ll need to make sure that you can view file extensions (music files should show .mp3 or .m4a after the filename). If your PC doesn’t, you can change this by opening your "My Documents" folder, and clicking Tools-> Folder Options. On the "View" tab, you should see an option "Hide extensions for known file types," Make sure that the box next to this is not ticked, and then hit ok.
Right, now for the fun bit. Find the song you want as your ringtone and play it in iTunes. iPhone ringtones can be a maximum of 30 seconds long, so you’ll need to know the start and end points for the song clip that you want to use, so play the song, and write down how many seconds there are to the part of the song you want as your ringtone. You’ll need the end time too, but this can only be a maximum of 30 seconds.
By now, you should have the start and end points of your ringtone. Right click on the song in iTunes, and select "Get Info"
When the iTunes preferences window opens, you will see 7 tabs across the top, click on the options tab. You’ll see there is a space to enter start and stop times. Put in the times you wrote down earlier and make sure that both boxes are ticked – then hit "OK".
UPDATE: Thanks to Dean and Snatch for pointing out that you need to ensure that you use : to seperate minutes and seconds, and not a full stop!
Right click your song again, and this time select create AAC version (or similar.) You should then see a second copy of the song appear in your iTunes music library. In order to change it to a ringtone you’ll need to drag this file to your desktop. You can then delete the 30 second version from iTunes and un tick the start and stop times on the original song.
Go to the file on your desktop and you should see its called "songname.m4a". Right click it and choose "rename," all we want to change here is the .m4a to .m4r. You can rename this song if you want, but the filename must end .m4r
That’s it! All you need to do now is double click the file to add it back to iTunes. If you click on the Ringtones link in the side panel, it should now be listed as a ringtone, rather than a music file.
All that is left is to sync your iPhone with your computer. If it doesn’t sync over straight away, make sure the "Sync ringtones" option is selected when your phone is connected.
UPDATE:A few people have had a problem with the ringtones showing in iTunes in the ringtones section, but they aren’t syncing to the phone. To fix this plug your phone in, and on the options screen, uncheck the ‘Sync Ringtones’ box, hit apply and then sync your phone. Once it’s finished, disconnect and re connect your phone. Go back to the options screen and re-check the ‘Sync Ringtones’ box and sync again. This resets the sync information in iTunes and your phone and your ringtones should now show up on your phone.
Download a printable instruction sheet (PDF: 300kb)
Give it a try and let me know how you get on – Got any great ringtones that you want to share with the world? Leave your comments below with the Song title and start/end times and share your creations!
(12 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
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Tags: free iphone ringtones, iphone 3g ringtone, iphone ringtone, itunes, ringtones,
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by Posts about Apple Software as of January 13, 2009 | The Lessnau Lounge
On January 14, 2009 at 12:25 am
[...] iTunes Plus, which was launched in May 2007. From Apple’s FAQ: iTunes Plus refers to songs Free iPhone Ringtones – mobilefun.co.uk 01/13/2009 Being able to choose your own ringtone on your phone is something that [...]
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I tried it and each step worked until I clicked on the start and end times for the clip of song I wanted to use; it would not save the clicked ’start time’, only the end time remained clicked… therefore when I double clicked it from the desk top and opened it up in Ringtones, it was the full length of the track not just the clip.
Hope you can help? Thanks!
by Andy
On January 14, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Hi Rider,
Not sure why its not working for you – what version of iTunes are you using and what format is the original song in – is it MP3 or AAC?
As a long shot, try setting just the end time and creating the AAC, then on the shorter AAC file, try setting just the start time and then create it…
Andy
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Hi, it’s the latest version of iTunes and the file originally was, it says, AAC. It was one I uploaded to the computer from a shop bought CD.
Wonder if it is because it was an AAC in the first place?
(On the file I dragged to the desktop the start and end times were greyed out and I couldn’t amend them)
by Andy
On January 14, 2009 at 5:03 pm
If you’ve still got the CD, it might be worth importing it as an MP3 rather than AAC. If not, try it on an MP3 file see if that works.
The file I used for this was an MP3 and I had no problems with it.
To change iTunes to import as AAC, change the import settings to MP3 in the first step
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 5:15 pm
thanks, I shall have a go tonight!
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 5:18 pm
oops! Forgot to ask, how do I change the import settings, because if I upload this CD track again it will probably be an AAC?
by Andy
On January 14, 2009 at 5:25 pm
No problem, In the Preferences window, click on “Import Settings” on the General Tab and make sure that “import using” is set to MP3 Encoder.
You shouldn’t need to change the quality settings.
Next time you import it should do it as MP3
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 5:33 pm
thanks alot – i shall let you know how it goes. Thanks for helping this non techie!
by Andy
On January 14, 2009 at 5:38 pm
No worries, will be good to know if AAC files don’t work with it.
I’ll update the post if they don’t work!
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 6:45 pm
No, no luck I’m afraid. I have tried what you said and even over again following the instructions here with several tracks. The start and end times just don’t save when I click OK…. in fact the new song created in iTunes has a zero length to it… think I need a cup of tea… I am really disappointed with iphone in this respect – pay all that money and I cannot do what even my old Motorola phone could, i.e. create a music ringtone!
by Andy
On January 14, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Hmm, thats a strange one!
What song are you trying to do and what start and end times? I’ll try it here and see if I have any luck!?
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Tried a couple – You’ll Never Walk Alone, first 30 secs and also Viva La Vida by Coldplay, 3 mins 11 to 3 mins 41
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Don’t know if you are still there or not but Imanaged to get Viva La Vida 30 second length, listed in Ringtones…. have synced the phone but it onlydownloads the full version.
Am I missing something? I have got the sync ringtones clicked and highlihgted the song – telling it to sync that one.
Once on the phone, should it appear in the Ringtones section? The full version of the song (which I don’t want) is in the music section.
by Rider9
On January 14, 2009 at 10:42 pm
OK I have deleted the full version from the itunes files and the only version left on it is the 30 second one, in Ringtones. so far so good – but even though I have ticked it to sync ringtones, that is not downloaded to my phone. Sorry to ask again, but any advice?
by Andy
On January 15, 2009 at 1:31 pm
No worries, its what I’m here for! its good that its now showing in your ringtones library. Once you’ve ticked the sync ringtones box, you’ll need to make sure you hit the apply button in the bottom right corner, and then disconnect and reconnect your iPhone.
Mine took a little while to sync over too.
Any idea what changed for you to select the start and stop times?
by Rider9
On January 15, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Hi, thanks. Now I am finding that it says it cannot transfer the ringtone because it cannot find it! It is listed in the ringtones folder though and is the right file format.
No idea how I did the start and stop times right, isn’t that annoying when you finally do it but don’t know what you did right!
Nearly giving up – going grey here… why can’t it find it do you think?
by Andy
On January 15, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Not sure, unless its looking for a file thats been moved. If you’ve not got iTunes organising your music collection, it might still need the file on the desktop.
right click the ringtone and click get info, on the summary tab, it should show the file location at the bottom of the window. Just check to make sure that the .m4r file is still where it thinks it is. If not, you’ll need to find it and add it to itunes again.
let me know if that works
by Rider9
On January 15, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Well when I went to it it said it was an M4a which is obviously wrong – beforehand it was an m4r. Uploaded the whole CD again but believe it or not, when it came to the track I want, it listed it as 0:00 long!! So it hadn’t uploaded that track from the CD at all, to the computer.
Think I will give up for now – it is way too frustrating… very disapointed after all the money I spent on the iphone not to be able to have itunes do ringtones for us here in the UK.
thanks for all your help but I must be doing alot wrong here.
by Dean
On January 15, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Wow – glad I came across this – worked first time and I can now have some better tunes on my iPhone than the default ones! Thanks for this post! One thing I noticed though is, when you delete the 30 second version of your track, my PC popped up a box asking if I wanted to ‘move to recycle bin’ or ‘keep file’ as I haven’t ticked the box to remember this action. You need to move to the recycle bin for it to work
by Rider9
On January 15, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Yes, I did that too – but you will see all the problems I have had – the main one being it wouldn’t save the start and stop times when I clicked OK. Even when I got that done, and it was in Ringtones as an m4r file, it wouldn’t sync !
by Dean
On January 15, 2009 at 6:01 pm
This may sound like a silly question but have you got the correct format for start time and finish time (ie 0:00 to 0:30) and ticked both boxes? Just a suggestion?
by Rider9
On January 15, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Not a silly question at all. I wanted the first 15 secs so I put 0.00 to 0.00.15
However when I do that, it changes the track to a zero length one in the list, and moves on to the next one when I try and play it.
Are you uploading an AAC file or an MP3?
by Rider9
On January 15, 2009 at 6:08 pm
PS when I tick both boxes, it won’t save the tick in the start box – only the end time is saved.
by Rider9
On January 15, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hey, I DID IT!!!! Thanks for all your help Andy and then Dean…. the songs I wanted to put on it just wouldn’t handle at all but I managed to do it with another one.
I will sleep tonight now! Thanks again!
by Andy
On January 15, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Excellent! really glad its all working!
must have been something with the audio files you were using?!
glad its sorted tho
by Dean
On January 15, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Ahh it looks like you are putting a . rather than a : to separate the minutes:seconds:milliseconds and the example you put above 0.00 to 0.00.15 is for 15 milliseconds.
Hope this helps?
by Rider9
On January 16, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Ah! yes, probably a combination of both – I still cannot even get the computer upload the Viva la Vida track I wanted to use; when I upload the CD it changes that track to zero length… puzzling!
Thanks for the explanation re the timings Dean – I must have corrected that without knowing it I guess.
Cheers both!
by Snatch
On January 22, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Hi
Thanks for posting this after numerous phone calls to Apple and o2 about this and both parties saying it is impossible to do, then we come across your website that explained it simply and it worked, but did have the same problem to start with by using a dot instead of :. Great help, Thanks alot
by LJ
On January 25, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Excellent – worked first time – now have my own Ringtones. Shame why Apple don’t cooperate
by Renee
On January 27, 2009 at 10:47 am
Hi
Thanks – great – a simple quick clear way that works.
Do I have to leave the ringtone files on my desktop or can they be moved or filed in a folder?
Now just need to get picture messaging and delivery receipts and it’ll be almost perfect!!!
by Andy
On January 27, 2009 at 10:58 am
Hi Renee,
Glad it all worked for you!
It depends on how your iTunes library is handled as to whether you can delete the file or not. If all your music is organised by iTunes (its normally copied to an iTunes folder in your “my music” folder) then yes, you can delete it and it shouldn’t disappear off your phone next time you sync.
If iTunes doesn’t manage your library, then there is every chance you’ll get an error message saying it can’t find the file if you delete it.
If you want to check how your library is set up, open the preferences window, (step 1) and then click on the advanced tab. You need to check the location of your itunes music folder and make sure that the keep iTunes folder organised is checked.
If in doubt, move the file rather than delete it to start with, if you get no problems you can then delete it!
Hope that makes sense!
by foxy
On January 28, 2009 at 1:25 am
done everything you said to change a song to ringtone i dbl click on the song from desktop but it keeps going back into the itunes music and not the ringtone file…??
help driving me batty
by Andy
On January 28, 2009 at 9:36 am
Hi Foxy, it sounds like its not renaming it correctly, the file on your desktop, does that definately end .m4r?
by foxy
On January 28, 2009 at 4:01 pm
yes it does say that, i rename the song ending it with m4r.
by Renee
On January 31, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Thanks Andy – wish others are as helpful as you
by antony
On February 2, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Ledgend! been waiting to do this for ages now my iphone is complete
Thanks again
by Oli
On February 18, 2009 at 7:58 am
Thanks so much….was really angry when was told couldnt create ringtones but you have helped big time! cheers
by nathan
On February 19, 2009 at 6:05 pm
hi ya i cant get the boxes where it says music to work so i cant input any numbers from the start to the finish any ideas?
by Andy
On February 19, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Where is it you’re getting stuck? When you right click the file and choose get info, does that box thats shown above open up? can you click on the options tag?
by michael
On February 22, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I have follwed all the steps but when i see my new 30 second song on my desktop it just says the song name with a 1 on the end and not .m4a so i cannot change it to .m4r!
by michael
On February 22, 2009 at 1:44 pm
oo well, went back through the steps and answered my own question!, very useful thank you
by Woody
On March 5, 2009 at 12:26 am
Hi, I got one to work then copied 3 others. They show in ‘Ringtones’ on the Iphone in iTunes but are not available in Sounds/ringtones on the phone. Any help would be great.
W
by Andy
On March 5, 2009 at 11:25 am
Hmm, not come across that one before! Have you tried resetting your iPhone? Sometimes it might need a reboot to see them – try holding down the menu button and the sleep button until the phone turns off (keep them pressed when the “slide to power off” appears)
by mark
On March 15, 2009 at 10:54 pm
The m4r file needs to have an album and artist. Right click the ringtone, get info, etc
by Andy
On March 16, 2009 at 9:47 am
Its not essential, if you use a PC its not so easy as it is on a Mac, and depending on the file you use, the information will be filled in for you already – mine did using my work PC.
by gary
On March 22, 2009 at 1:10 pm
hello i cant get the m4r file into the ringtone folder it comes back on the music folder in itunes how do i move it????
by Andy
On March 22, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Sounds like your computer isn’t recognising it as a ringtone, double check the first part of this about viewing the file types, if its not set correctly, it might be naming the file as songname.m4r.m4a?
Double check the Folder Settings part and let me know how you get on
by sharon gray
On March 25, 2009 at 8:02 pm
it all went fine till I dragged to the desktop. It didn’t end in m4a or anything…just had name of the song on it. I added .m4r but it went back to songs not ringtones. what am I doing wrong?
by Andy
On March 25, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Hi Sharon,
you need to change your settings so that it shows file extensions. by adding .m4r on the end, you’re actually calling the file ringtone.m4a.m4r.
you need to you change the view settings, by opening your “My Documents” folder, and clicking Tools-> Folder Options. On the “View” tab, you should see an option “Hide extensions for known file types,” Make sure that the box next to this is not ticked, and then hit ok.
it should then show up on your desktop with both extensions, rename it again and re add to itunes.
by Shaun
On April 9, 2009 at 10:12 am
Great article. No longer need to suffer the standard ringtones. Well done.
by Graham
On April 10, 2009 at 10:33 am
It Works Thanks very much
by Sue
On April 16, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Some of my songs say they are protected, is there any way I can use them as ringtones.
by Andy
On April 16, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Hi Sue,
You can use them, but you’ll need to either upgrade them to iTunes + format (which is about 20p per song) or you can burn them to disc, and then import them back into itunes – this will remove the protection from them.
Andy
by Karen
On April 17, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Thanks so much!!
I have all the ringtones I want without any new software or spending another penny!!!
Yay for sticking it to the man
by Gim
On April 17, 2009 at 4:15 pm
done everything you said to change a song to ringtone I double click on the song from desktop but it just throws out itunes music. The ringtone file is nowhere to be found.
At desktop, file properties even show as ringtone but alas not in the ringtone file
by Andy
On April 17, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Hi Gim,
I take it you’ve checked in the ‘ringtones’ section of itunes?
What happens if you try and add the file using itunes, rather than double clicking it? Click on file – add to library and browse to the file.
Let me know how it goes
by Gim
On April 17, 2009 at 5:11 pm
had a warning msg ‘if you change the file ext, the file may be unsable’ Was renaming MP3 to m4r. Could this be the error why i cant get the ringtone?
by Andy
On April 17, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Yes, thats your problem! You’ve missed out quite a few of the steps listed above!
Try again one step at a time. you can’t convert an mp3 to a ringtone by changing the name. let me know if you have any problems when you’ve tried whats listed above.
by Gim
On April 19, 2009 at 3:56 pm
hi again, Tried clicking on file to add to library ….
it’s not working either.
In fact i’ve followed through like what was listed except this – Right click on song again, and select create AAC version (or similar.)which I have chosen MP3 as i don’t hv AAC or others except MP3 as selection. Drag to desktop & change name to m4r icon shows ringtone as well as properties but just won’t get into ringtone. i’m using itune ver 8.1.1.10. I am really really ‘lost’
by Andy
On April 19, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Thats your problem! If you don’t do that bit, then none of the rest will work. If you don’t have the option to convert selection to AAC, you’ll need to check your iTunes settings as explained in the first part of this tutorial..
If you miss any steps it won’t work!
by Gim
On April 19, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Hi Andy GOT IT!!!! Thanks alot!!! Apologize for my stupidity
However, am just curious at the renaming of file from .m4a to .m4r warning message of ‘file may be unusable’ still appears. any impact?
by Andy
On April 19, 2009 at 5:39 pm
The error message is a standard windows message, and will come up if you try and rename most files. It won’t cause any problems as iTunes will know how to handle m4r
by Arek
On April 24, 2009 at 5:44 am
Hi
(
I using itune ver 8.1.1.10 i did everything what you say.
1. Iport Using ACC Encoder OK
end when i click right button on my songs i don’t see Convert selection to AAC
HELP
by Andy
On April 24, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hi Arek, You need to be looking at the song in your main music library, not in a playlist, and when you right click it it should show “Create AAC Version” in itunes 8.1.1
by Harris
On May 1, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I did everything right I got the songs in iTunes under ringtones, but for some reason when I sync it doesn’t appear in sounds in settings please tell me how to fix this
by Andy
On May 3, 2009 at 10:37 am
Hi Harris,
Have you checked your iTunes settings to make sure that you’ve set it to sync ringtones to your phone?
by raghu
On May 5, 2009 at 7:39 pm
hi andy,
did everything as said above to create a ring tone but it is not appearing in the sounds section after syncing phone..
and even the ring tone shouldn’t play on itues..but itunes is able to play it..please tell me a solution..
iam using itunes 8.1.1.10 and iphone 3g
thanks
by Andy
On May 6, 2009 at 8:55 am
Hi Raghu, Is the ringtone showing in the ringtones folder in itunes or your regular music library?
by Amit
On May 11, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I’m stuck! Plz help!
I got all the way there, converted to trimmed aac file, renamed to m4r, added to ringtone library, played it from the library to make sure of no errors i.e. file can’t be found…. It was all ok to this point.
Problem is, it doesn’t show up in Sounds menu on the iPhone when trying to select a new ringtone.
I synced the whole phone as well as Ringtones on it’s own, as well as the selected ringtone (it’s the only one). Never worked after any type of sync.
If you can provide a solution and it does show up, can i use it as a text message received sound too? and how?
by Amit
On May 11, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Deleted original file from folder manually, disconnected and reconnected iphone after syncing, synced again and disconnected again. One of these steps worked for me. Shows up ubder ‘custom’ at the top. Excellent!
Only thing is, i only really wanted to use it as a new text message notification. Seems as though this works in a different way… DOH! Any ideas?
by Andy
On May 11, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Hi Amit,
Its not possible to use them for text messages, you’re still stuck with the default apple ones for that..
I take it that the tune is showing in the ‘ringtones’ section of itunes and that when you plug your iphone in, on the tabs across the top you’ve clicked on ringtones, and made sure that ’sync ringtones’ is checked?
If it is, it will only show on your phone when you go to settings > sounds > ringtones and then the screen will be split into two, standard and custom, and yours should show at the top of the page.
by Andy
On May 11, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Sorry, didn’t see your second comment til just!
If you figure out how to change the text tones, please let me know, but as far as I know its not possible yet.
Crossing my fingers that it’ll appear in 3.0
by Punith
On May 13, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hey Andy, It worked flawlessly. but the great news is it works on midi files too.
Thnx a ton. I’m really glad that I can use my favourite ringtones, which i’ve been transferring to every new fone that i pick up but hit the wall when i got my iphone.
by Barry
On May 18, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Andy
Thanks, clear simple instructions and did exactly what it said on the tin.
by Loosekonnection
On May 19, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Genius,
Clear and easy to follow.
Many thx.
………
PEBKAC
Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.
by Don
On May 23, 2009 at 8:47 pm
So everything went well… however the clip is not in my sounds on the iphone, it is on the ipod app. How do I set it as a ring tone?
Don
by Andy
On May 23, 2009 at 10:55 pm
If its gone over to your phone as a song, rather than ringtone it’ll be because changing the file type didn’t work!
Jump back to the step where it explains how to rename the file and try again
by Don
On May 23, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Thanks Andy.. I will give it another try!
D
by Don
On May 23, 2009 at 11:17 pm
By the way… it was in my ringtones on Itunes
by Andy
On May 23, 2009 at 11:41 pm
ah, if it was in ringtones, its not that that’s the problem then!
I think some iphones just have a hissy fit sometimes when they sync. plug your phone in, and on the options screen, uncheck the sync ringtones box and sync your phone, disconnect and re connect, then go back in and re check it and sync again..
sometimes this clears out any confusion on the syncing
by Andy
On May 23, 2009 at 11:47 pm
might be worth deleting the ringtone from your itunes aswell and then add it again.
check both the music and ringtone sections and delete all versions of it, sync your phone, then double click the file on your desktop and see where it loads into. if it goes back into ringtones it should then sync to sounds on your phone..
by Don
On May 24, 2009 at 12:02 am
Well done… again thank you! All good.
D
by Ondray
On May 31, 2009 at 5:36 am
I followed all the steps to add a ringtone. When I pull up itunes and my iphone is connected I can see the Ringtone I created in the ringtone folder under my iphone under devices. The ringtone is checked but not bold. It does not show under my ringtones on my iphone after syncing.
by Andy
On May 31, 2009 at 9:32 am
A few people have had this problem, sometimes the first sync doesn’t work.
To fix this plug your phone in, and on the options screen, uncheck the sync ringtones box and sync your phone,
disconnect and re connectyou phone, then go back in and re check it and sync again..
This clears out any confusion on the syncing
by Ayesha
On June 5, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Hi, ive followed all your steps but i still seem to have a problem with the ringtones going onto the phone. There in my ringtones folder in itunes but just wont transfer over to the phone. Not sure what else to do.
by Andy
On June 5, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I’m going to add a bit to the post now as a few people seem to have this issue.
To fix this plug your phone in, and on the options screen, uncheck the sync ringtones box and sync your phone,
disconnect and re connectyou phone, then go back in and re check it and sync again..
This clears out any confusion on the syncing
by » Mac Tutorial: Burn True gapless CD’s with iTunes 4.9 four games
On June 6, 2009 at 10:19 am
[...] Free iPhone Ringtones using iTunes | The Mobile Fun Blog [...]
by matt
On June 19, 2009 at 10:19 pm
mate you are a legend for publishing this, apple’s lives are spared for now
by Craig
On June 22, 2009 at 3:22 pm
hi i have done everything i am using aac encoder and i have unticked hide extension files but it still has the same message heeeeelp!!
by Andy
On June 22, 2009 at 3:34 pm
When you say you’re still getting the same message, what message are you referring to?
by Sali
On June 28, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Hi, first of all ive got to thank you for this post its the most concise i have found online. I have a problem when it comes to reinserting the song bit back into itunes it wont save into the ringtone folder and goes back into my main library. This is probably something really obvious that i am just missing but not sure if its different for the new 32 3GS iphone that came out this month. Thank you so much for post and your help.
by Andy
On June 29, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Hi Sali,
If the ringtone is going into your music library rather than ringtones, this will be to do with the file extension. It needs to be .m4r, so just double check that yours are .m4r and not ringtone.m4r.m4a.
If it does have both extensions then this will be because you’ve still got file types hidden. Easiest way round this is to start again from the top and double check the instructions in the 2nd part and the bit next to the ringtone icon on the post above.
Andy
by Kym
On July 7, 2009 at 11:56 am
Hi
I haven’t read through all these comments but I’ve seen the same problem come up – so sorry if I’m repeating anything – but I found if you’ve imported your CD through Itunes it won’t transfer to your phone. If you upload your CD through a different source like Nero or something then add it to the Itunes library – it should work!
by Yvonne
On July 19, 2009 at 5:15 pm
It worked perfectly. Great information and instructions. Thank you!
by Barr
On July 28, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Spot on!!!! Thanks, I had a couple of initial problems like not reading the instructions properly….. However when i followed them step by step it works
) thank you very much i will be using and recommending this site thanks again.
by Caz
On August 3, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Hi have followed all the steps above, struggled renaming as there is no rename option when i right click on the mac but have managed to do it. When i double click the ringtone version on the desktop it throws it back into my main itunes and it does not appear in ringtones have tried several songs and this occurs every time. My original format for the songs has been AAC but I have gone through the procedure of create AAC. Any suggestions.
Thanks Caz
by Caz
On August 3, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Hi
seen a comment about the problem I’ve just posted does the .m4r need a . at the end.
thanks Caz
by Caz
On August 3, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Sorted it no . after m4r great thanks for the post.
by Caz
On August 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm
well chuffed working every time been looking for something like this for ages. Brill thanks again.
Caz
by Paul
On August 22, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Hi Andy,i followed instructions as above,worked fine first time. from then on when i right click on song again and create AAC version it does not appear as a second copy in itunes music library.
finally found file in windows explorer.
Please help
Many Thanks Paul
by Andy
On August 22, 2009 at 6:17 pm
It’s strange that it’s not adding it straight to your itunes library – but if you’ve found the file in windows explorer i wouldn’t worry too much as you can just double click it to add it to the library.
If the file you found in windows is a .m4a file, rename it to end .m4r before you double click it and it’ll actually save you a few steps!
by TiFFAny
On September 5, 2009 at 1:56 am
Hey,I’ve done everything and so far it’s all worked. This is where I’m stuck…. My song is in the ringtones tab and renamed and all and i’ve deleted the 30 sec version from my itunes library. When I sync my phone and the ringtone is selected to sync it does not copy over. Under sounds on my Iphone 3g, there is no custom option where my tones should be found. I tried restarting my iphone and syncing many times, I even tried a few other songs. They just won’t copy into my sounds on my phone. HEEELP!
by Andy
On September 5, 2009 at 11:14 am
a few people have had this problem, plug your phone in again and un check the sync ringtones box. sync your phone and unplug it. plug it back in, re check the sync ringtones box and sync again. that should cure it.
by TiFFAny
On September 5, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I’ve tried this 3 times now and still nothing. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong…
Tiff
by Andy
On September 7, 2009 at 10:11 am
Is the ringtone definitely showing up in the ringtones section of itunes?
by TiFFAny
On September 8, 2009 at 2:31 am
Definetly is!
by Andy
On September 8, 2009 at 10:21 am
thats really odd then. sorry to ask but just want to check we’re on the same page
Ringtone is showing in ringtones section of iTunes
Ringtone can be played in iTunes
when phone is connected, ’sync ringtones’ and ’sync all’ is ticked
by TiFFAny
On September 9, 2009 at 3:58 am
Definitely is. I’ve more or less given up… I’m just curious as to what I’m doing wrong…
Tiff
by Julie
On September 11, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Hi, Im having a problem adding it to itunes library, either as a music file or ringtone?…any ideas? Tried just doubleclicking but no joy?
by Andy
On September 11, 2009 at 9:09 pm
If it’s not working, chances are it’s not been renamed properly, double check the file name and make sure it’s ringtone.m4r not ringtone.m4a or ringtone.m4a.m4r
by TiFFAny
On September 14, 2009 at 2:40 am
Did that. Anyways, I’ve given up. Thanks anyways : )
by Dopey & Grumpy
On September 18, 2009 at 1:01 am
We have 3GS iPhones v3.1 and iTunes v9. We have a few “m4r” ringtones showing in our ringtones folder in iTunes and they all play. After many sync attempts and powering off and on, Checking and Unchecking etc etc the ringtones will not display in our “Settings>Sounds>Ringtone” list. We can only select standard ringtones. Until Apple or someone solves this problem, We are putting our iPhones on silent. Thanks anyway.
by Andy
On September 18, 2009 at 9:42 am
Seems strange that people are having problems with this – I’m guessing the recent upgrade to 3.1 is causing problems – presumably because apple now sell their own ringtones.
I’ve not tried to sync since the upgrade, so will try again this afternoon and update the post if anything changes.
andy
by Grumpy
On September 18, 2009 at 3:13 pm
This problem was happening before and after upgrading to v3.1. It definately sounds like an Apple strategy to make us pay for ringtones but I also have a problem trying to create a ringtone in iTunes even when we use a song purchased from the iTunes store. I just get an error message: “Unknown error (11556)”. I can’t even pay for a ringtone at the moment, Apple’s loss!
by RoverTS
On September 25, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I got my ringtones from following the instructions and it worked fine and I have loaded the new Iphone software.
it was easier to use than Garage
so thanks to the person you worked this out
roverts
by Mojo
On September 27, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Hi Andy mate,
tried the above instructions to the tee but no luck. After ive done it all and renamed with m4r at the end and double click to play, it plays the 20 second clip from the music library, not from the rigntones tab.
Ive been havin issues with itunes version 9 though (constant freezing) – to the point where ive re-installed iutunes 8.2
Cheers fo rthe advice, atleast you tried to do something apple never do (make things easier for apple users)
by Andy
On September 28, 2009 at 9:56 am
Hi, If its still opening in the music tab its because the the file extension hasn’t changed. If you’re on windows, double check the first steps to make sure that you can see the file extension on file names. If you’re only seeing the file named as “ringtone” on your desktop and are changing it to “ringtone.m4r” that won’t be changing the file extension (file will then be called ringtone.m4r.m4a)
You need to make sure you delete m4a and replace with .m4r. if you don’t it will always open up in the music tab.
Andy
by Top 10 Apps for the HTC Hero & Android handsets | Mobile Fun Blog
On October 29, 2009 at 3:02 pm
[...] is the inability to set one of your MP3 files as your ringtone. While there are ways around this (see my post on free ringtones using iTunes) it’s a basic feature that is available on almost every other phone. Android users can set [...]