Gizmodo
[Depreciated since iTunes 7.4.2] Purchasable iPhone Ringtones are officially here. However, with the discovery of free iPhone ringtones from inside iTunes 7.4 (and the rediscovery of them in iTunes 7.4.1), most of you won't want to pay $0.99 for the privilege of using a 30-second version of a song you've already purchased. Here are eight alternative ways to get ringtones onto your iPhone.
Options that require Jailbreak
• SSH/File Transfer: All you have to do is drop an iPhone's iPod-compatible ringtone into the /Library/Ringtones directory, meaning you can use MP3s, AACs (protected and unprotected), or M4As. Anything that your iPhone's iPod supports will work.
• iBrickr (Windows): iBrickr actually transcodes your sound files for you, so if you're looking up old WAV sound pages from 1999, iBrickr can convert them into something that the iPhone understands before syncing. [iBrickr]
• iFuntastic (Mac): Same as the SSH/File Transfer option. Just drag them into the correct /Library/Ringtones folder. [iFuntastic]
• Sendsong: Allows you to pick any song from your iPod and move it into the Ringtones section. Install this with AppTapp.
Options that don't require Jailbreak
• iTunes Music Store: You can manually place AAC files into the correct iTunes Ringtones folder as long as it has the right file extension. Works with purchased iTunes songs or songs you've converted to AAC format. [JoeMaller]
• Rogue Ameoba's MakeiPhoneRingtone (Mac): This takes advantage of the iTunes 7.4 and iTunes 7.4.1 ringtone file compatibility workaround to get the Ringtones show up in iTunes. All you have to do is drop in an AAC file, which can be one of your songs purchased from iTunes. [MakeiPhoneRingtone]
• iToner (Mac): Copies ringtones to your iPhone, bypassing iTunes, should be guaranteed to work with future iPhone updates. Costs $15. [iToner]
• iPhoneRingToneMaker (Windows): Transfers ringtones to your iPhone, but lets you edit them beforehand in its editor so you can chop down long songs to a manageable clip. [efksoft]
We recommend you use one of the free methods, since they're actually quite easy to do. Even if you don't want to jailbreak your phone, the iTunes Music Store manual method and Rogue Amoeba's MakeiPhoneRingtone can take care of this for free. But if you want to make sure your ringtones don't get deleted when a new version of iTunes or iPhone Firmware comes out, you may want to try jailbreaking and placing the songs into the ringtones folder manually.
Obligatory iPhone Book Whoring: These iPhone Ringtone features are covered in my book, How to Do Everything With Your iPhone, along with hacking, cracking, and much more. Don't worry, that cover is going to be changed. Soon. *Sends nagging email to publishers*
Additional research by Benny Goldman
Comments
Coming to the iPhone hack game a little late (I didn't really care about ringtones until Apple thought it'd be cool to double charge me for them), is there a place where iPhone Hacking For Dummies 101 exists? I want to stick it to the man with a free ringtone of my own.
@Machines: Here's our guide on that: [gizmodo.com]
Uh I use Macs and PC's on a daily basis. I have actually used PC's for more of my life than a Mac.
How the hell do you rename a file extension on a PC??!!?!?
I don't I have ever tried to do that and it's annoying as shit!! Where is the option to even be able to view the extensions of files in the explorer window?
I am trying to rename the AAC file to .m4r. There is no such thing as a Ringtones folder. There is a ringtones section on the iPhone menu but there is no folder called Ringtones that I can find that correlates to it...
So what do I do once I convert the file? Just drop it into the iTunes music library? Do I have to make a ringtones folder manually in my library folder? Can I just change the extension or do I have to actually convert it with software? if so what software?
I can't seem to get iTunes to recognize that I have renamed this AAC file and none of your write ups are clear on this process. I would like to see a detailed step by step process for this please, thanks!
One way to get a ringtone on your Sony Ericsson*
#1.) Plug it into a USB port and drag & drop your MP3 onto the phone.
@Metalhaze: to rename a file extension in windows, you just rename the file and give it the new extension.
If you're not seeing extensions on your files, it means the option to view file extensions is turned off (which I think is the default in new windows installs, but I'm not sure).
Open an explorer window and pull down Tools -> Options. Go to the "View" tab and uncheck the box that says "Hide Extensions for Known Filetypes."
@metalhaze:
To see file extensions: (In XP) Open a folder, go to Tools > Folder Options > View. Right below Hidden Files and Folders Option, is Hide Extensions for know type. Uncheck.
I don't have an iphone yet, but I would assume that you need to show hidden files/folders to be able to see the ringtone folder.
Good luck.
beat me to it... haha
@Jason Chen: Thanks, Jason!
What? No "Gizmodo is promoting theft!" commentary yet?
Now I'm just disappointed...
@kai: how is gizmodo promoting theft exactly?
OK, here's the step by step for first time ringtoners.
1. create a 30 second AAC 128 bit file somewhere on your hard drive (GarageBand works great for doing this).
2. Change the extension from m4a to m4r. (Windows users-From File Explorer, go to Tools/Folder Options/View tab and uncheck "Hide extensions...")
3. Double-click the file to register it with iTunes and create the ringtones folder.
4. Browse to the ringtones folder (located in your iTunes music folder) and change the extension back to m4a.
5. Plug in your iPhone and go to the Ringtones tab where you should now see the ringtone.
6. Sync.
7. Assign the ringtone on your iPhone.
i downloaded the iphoneringtonemaker, which worked well, but when i synced my iphone with itunes (for music, photos) it deleted all of my unofficial mp3 ringtones. is there a way around this?
Sucks for windows user. According to their site, iBrickr 0.8 doesn't work with the new iTunes 7.4. Same for efksoft.
I've tried to use iBrickr to send ringtones over, and iPhone will see it, but won't play it when the phone rings. Plus, it's gone after the next sync.
Gonna try the OSX ways of putting ringtone tonight on my dusted Powerbook when I get home. *fingers crossed*
@olegna: Number of comments before someone points out that there exist cell phones that support drag-and-drop of audio files for use as ringtones out of the box: three.
Huzz-zah. Thanks for the bulletin.
Method #9. Ringtone any song you want, using iTunes 7.4 or higher. Everyone needs to read this and NOT continue using the "renaming" trick or unecessary jailbreaking (if you ONLY want a ringtone).
iPhone Ringtones - What Did iTunes 7.4.1 really do?
[www.digg.com]
Once you do this, your file will ALWAYS show up in iTunes as a ringtone, no matter what you do next.
not iPhone only (i use it with my A900, i have a friend who uses it on his chocolate), but www.myxertones.com does the job for the price of one text and data usage. (on a power vision phone with text included, i can easily get ringers for 4 cents each, free if vision and text are both included on the bill.) and also lets you use any audio file on your computer.
this works, but in my experience you can't upload more than one at a time - even though itunes recognizes your multiple iphones, and your docked iphone does, when you check the phone's ringtone settings, you've got multiple copies of the first one you uploaded.
@MACDITTOS - step #4 doesn't make any sense. why would you change the extension back? when you do that itunes ceases to recognize it and you can't load it onto your iphone...
that should read 'multiple ringtones' sorry...
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