Step-by-Step Guide: How to Send Ringtones to iPhone

With your custom iPhone ringtone, the next incoming call will be a pleasure. However, using your own ringtones is a bit more difficult with Apple than with an Android smartphone. But don’t worry: there are ways and means for iOS devices too. For example, you can buy ringtones ready-made from the iTunes Store or – if you like being creative – create them yourself. We’ll tell you how to do it and what methods are available for this.

Content Summary

How to change the ringtone on iPhone
Using iTunes for custom ringtones
Creating ringtones with iTunes
Create ringtones with GarageBand
The best ringtone app for your phone
Conclusion

How to change the ringtone on iPhone

1. You don’t like your current iPhone ringtone anymore and you want to replace it with a new one? It’s very easy and works equally well for purchased and self-made sounds. Just follow these steps:
2. Open your iPhone’s settings.
3. Tap the menu item “Sounds & Haptics”.
4. Now select the item “Ringtone”. All standard ringtones from Apple, as well as your purchased or created ringtones, are displayed here.
5. Choose your favorite and click it to set it as your new ringtone.

Using iTunes for custom ringtones

You can buy iPhone ringtones from iTunes or, alternatively, create your own from any song. In the following, we will explain to you which steps are necessary to acquire the ringtones or to create them yourself from an existing song.

Creating ringtones with iTunes

1. Open iTunes on your PC or Mac and choose iTunes> Preferences from the menu bar.
2. Under “General”> “Import Settings”> “Import With” select the “AAC Encoder” and choose “Settings”> “Higher Quality”. Confirm your entry with OK.
3. Now you can select your desired song from iTunes. Warning: This does not work with offline songs from your “Apple Music” subscription.
4. Right-click on the relevant song and select “Information”.
5. In the “Options” tab, set the time you want for your ringtone. Note, however, that the sound can be a maximum of 40 seconds long.
6. Right-click on the song again and select “Create AAC Version”. You should now have two songs in your library – the original version and the new one with the correct length of time.
7. Right-click on the new version and view the sound in the Finder or Explorer.
8. In order for iTunes to recognize the file as a ringtone, you now have to change the file format. Rename the file so that the ending “m4a” becomes “.m4r”.
9. Open iTunes again and delete the AAC version of the ringtone that you have created in step 6.
10. Add the created m4r file under “File”> “Add to media library”. Mark this and confirm the selection with “Open”.

Now you can sync the new ringtone with your iPhone.

Create ringtones with GarageBand

As an alternative to iTunes, you can use the GarageBand application to create your ringtones right on the iPhone. This saves you the detour via your PC or Mac and can use the new ringtone immediately. You can also create and record your own songs using an extensive sound library.

1. Open GarageBand and click the “+” at the top to create a new song. Select any instrument – it will not be used afterward anyway.
2. Switch to the track view at the top left.
3. Import the song you want by tapping the loop icon in the top right corner. Now select the “Music” tab and choose the appropriate song from your music library. Just press and hold the song to add it to the audio track in GarageBand.
4. Now you can edit the song further if you want: cut it to size, add effects or mix your own beat. Alternatively, you can just select the part of the song that you want to use as your ringtone later.
5. The ringtone can now be exported. To do this, tap on the arrow symbol in the top left and then on “My Songs” – the sound will be saved automatically.
6. Press and hold the new song, then choose Share> Ringtone. Now you can name the sound whatever you want and then tap on “Export”.
7. GarageBand will ask what the ringtone should be used for – you can simply skip this query. Now the ringtone is displayed in your default ringtones and can be selected in the settings.

The best ringtone app for your phone

Ringtones can be created not only through iTunes or GarageBand but also through various other apps. We have found the best ringtone apps for your iPhone for you and it’s WALTR 2. It definitely knows how to send ringtones to iPhone with no extra hassle and iTunes sync!

This app is for you if you don’t want to spend lots of money each time you want to swap a ringtone. Simply download the app and convert any MP3 sound file into a ringtone that is perfectly suited to iPhone, in just the right format. This popular ringtone maker app is available for all iPhones with iOS 5.0 and higher. You can use it to select any song from your music library and create custom ringtones without iTunes or any other Apple app. You can use the custom soundtracks on your iPhone as a wake-up, alarm, timer, or – as you guessed it – a ringtone.

Conclusion

Most iPhone users have set standard ringtones such as “Reflection”, “Marimba” or “Guitar”. Although these have a high recognition value, they are not really individual. It’s time to change that! Setting your own ringtones on iPhone is surprisingly complicated. But today you can use several clever ways of tricking Apple and send any ringtone to the iPhone without a hassle.