Custom Ringtones for your iPhone

Custom ringtones are a cool thing and pretty useful to hear immediately who is calling. Over here we want to show you how to get your custom ringtones on your iPhone. Don’t ask why but for whatever reason this is not as straight forward as it could/should be.

The method over here is using a normal iPhone, not modified, jailbreaked or hacked in any way.

It is tested and works with iTunes version 7.6.2 and iPhone software version 1.1.4.

First of all you need your song. Just import your song in iTunes or use an existing song from your library. In our case we are using an mp3 file stored on the hard disk.

Step 1. Let’s change the import options in iTunes.

Open iTunes and click on Edit > Preferences. In your preferences window click on Advanced and select the Importing tab. Change the Import Using drop-down to AAC Encoder. Click OK.

Step 2. Import your mp3 into iTunes.

Next we want to import our mp3 file into iTunes. Open iTunes and click on File > Import .... Select your mp3 file and confirm with Open.

Step 3. Convert your mp3 file into AAC.

Now we have to change the encoding type from mp3 to AAC. Locate your file in iTunes (use the search function on the top if you don't know where it is). Right click on your file and select Convert Selection to AAC. You should get a second file. Now you have one mp3 and one AAC file of your music. Good for your – the original file is still existing.

Step 4. Set the information about the file.

Right click on the new created file and select Get Info. Make sure that you see AAC in the Kind field. Click on the Info tab. You NEED to specify an Artist, Album Artist and Album name. Click on OK.

Attention: If you are not specifying this field the iPhone will not recognize your file as valid ringtone !

Step 5. Rename your new file from .mpa to .m4r

Search the newly generated file (use your operating system search function) and change the file extension .m4a to .m4r. This change is important to tell the system that this file is a ringtone. You might get a pop-up asking you if you are sure. Sure you are - click Yes.

Step 6. Open the new file in iTunes.

Double click on your file and it will open in iTunes - in the ringtone library. That's where it should be ;)

Step 7. Move the ringtone file to your iPhone ringtone list.

Drag and drop the file into your iPhone ringtone list (just click on the file and drag it into your iPhone > Ringtones folder).

Step 8. Sync your ringtone with your iPhone.

Open your iPhone in iTunes (just click on your iPhone name under DEVICES). Select the Ringtones tab and set the checkmark for Sync rintones and All ringtones. Click Apply and afterwards Sync. Wait – sometimes it’s good to be patient – until the sync is finished.

Step 9. Verify and Enjoy.

Finally check if the ringtone is available on your iPhone. On your iPhone go to Settings > Sounds > Ringtone and you should see a custom area with your new ringtone. Of course you can add it to your contacts as well.

Hope this helps – if not try a search in the web or contact me.