TrumpetBoy

Ever since I’ve a had a mobile phone that supported use of mp3s as ringtones, I’ve been making my own. When I got my iPhone, I was initially disappointed that, seemingly, the only way to do this was via the iTunes Store which involved paying for the ringtone - not something I’ve been accustomed to. I did some research and figured out that, since my phone was jailbreaked, it was possible to access the file system and add new ringtones that way but it was a convoluted process.

Then, quite by accident, I hit on another solution. I’d made an iPhone-compatible ringtone which I’d transferred to my phone sometime before and left the file on my desktop. When tidying up later, I didn’t recognise the file by title so I dragged it onto iTunes to play it. Lo and behold, iTunes imported the file and added it to my Ringtones list. I connected my iPhone and, sure enough, was able to sync the file to my phone - adding it to my custom ringtones list. I set about trying this with some other files and, along with some help from the internet, worked out what does and doesn’t work.

Free Ringtone requirements

• AAC file, saved with a .m4r extension
• Max 3MB filesize
• Maximum length: 40 seconds
• Must be DRM-free - i.e. not a track from the iTunes Store

For the sake of this article, let’s go through the steps required to take a self-edited mp3 ringtone from your old mobile phone and convert it for, and transfer it to, the iPhone. If you haven’t edited a ringtone for a phone before you can use a free audio-editor like Audacity (available for Windows, Mac and Linux) to create a .wav file that will also work. All you will need is:

• an appropriate .mp3/.wav file
• A means of transferring the file from your old phone to your computer (data cable, bluetooth etc)
• iTunes (I’m using version 7.6.2 on a Mac)

The Process

1. Transfer the .mp3 from your old mobile, or create a new file (.mp3, .wav or any other iTunes-compatible file type will do) and save it on your Desktop (or other location you can easily find)
2. Using Finder (Mac) or Windows Explorer (PC) browse to your iTunes Music folder - on Mac the default is “Music->iTunes->iTunes Music”. Create a folder called “Ringtones” (if you don’t already have one there)
3. Add your Ringtone file to iTunes - either by dragging the file from the Desktop on to the iTunes icon or by opening iTunes and using “Add To Library”
4. Check your iTunes preferences; you need to set it to import files as AAC. Go to “Preferences->Advanced->Importing” and set “Import Using: AAC Encoder”. The default setting is 128kbps - personally I set this to a custom setting of 64kbps for ringtones which sounds fine on your iPhone speakers and saves file space.
5. Find your ringtone file in the iTunes list. Right-click it (Ctrl+click on Mac) and choose “Convert Selection to AAC” from the menu that appears. This will create a new copy of your ringtone file in AAC format, using the settings you’ve chosen in Step#4.
6. Select the file you’ve just created and Right-Click it (Ctrl+Click - Mac). Choose “Delete”. Click “Remove” in the first dialog that pops up and “Move To Trash” in the second.
7. Open your Trash/Recycle Bin either by clicking it in the Dock (Mac) or double-clicking the icon on your Desktop (PC). Find the file you’ve just deleted and drag it back on to your Desktop.
8. You now have a ringtone file with a .m4a extension on your Desktop. Right Click it and choose “Get Info” (Mac) or “Properties” (Win). Change the file extension from .m4a to .m4r and close the “Get Info/Properties” dialog.
9. Add the newly created ringtone.m4r file back into iTunes, either by dragging it onto the program icon or by using “File->Import” in iTunes. It should go into the “Ringtones” section of your iTunes Library.
10. Connect your iPhone and Sync the ringtone to your phone - either by dragging it from the Ringtones list or setting the iPhone to auto-sync ringtones. You can now set the Ringtone as usual from the Settings-Sounds menu on your iPhone.

Those are the steps that worked for me. Even though this is among my “Tips for the Unlocked iPhone” articles, I see no reason why this shouldn’t work for any iPhone given that it’s actually getting round the way iTunes deals with ringtones. Please leave a comment and let me know whether that’s true or not.