Creating your own ringtone can make your iPhone feel a little more personal. The standard tones featured on the iPhone can become a bit dull. Here is a guide to tell you how to turn your favourite MP3 file into an iPhone ringtone.
How to Create Your Ringtone
- Open up iTunes and select the MP3 you would like to sample (favourite song, comedy clip, even your own recording). Choose a 30 second or less portion of the file and make a note of when the section starts and when it finishes. These timings are important.
- Click on the file with the right mouse button, a menu will appear. On this menu 'left-click' on 'get info'.
- A grey box will now appear. On the menu bar at the top of the box, select 'options'.
- You will not be able to select a start and stop time for your ringtone - this is the 30 second or less section that you earlier decided on. Once you have entered the two timings, click ok.
- Go back into your iTunes song menu and play the file you selected. It should now only play the 30 second section you told it to. Ensure you are happy with the section you have selected, if not you will need to follow the steps again.
- Next, 'right-click' the song again and select 'Create AAC version' from the menu box (Note: If this option isn't visible, go to the top menu bar of the iTunes page and click 'Edit' then select 'preferences' in the 'General' area of the new menu that appears, select 'import settings' and set the default import option to AAC).
- A new copy of the song/clip will appear in your iTunes library. At this point, make sure that the new song is 30 seconds (or less) in length.
- Right click the new version of the song/clip and when the menu appears, select 'Show in Finder' or 'Show in Explorer'.
- Change the file extension from '.m4a' to '.m4r'. (Note: at this point the file extensions might not be shown in order for you to change the type of file. If this is the case, windows users should open 'my computer', select 'tools' and then click 'folder options'. Now click the 'view' tab and uncheck the box titled "Hide extensions for known file types".
- Drag the new .m4r file to your desktop.
- In your iTunes library, delete the new file you have created from the library (remember it isn't lost as you have a copy on your desktop.
- Go back to your desktop and 'double-click' in order to add it to the 'Ringtones' section of iTunes
- Connect and sync your iPhone.
- Now on your iPhone, go to settings and open the 'sounds' menu. Select the 'Ringtone' section and your new ringtone should be in the 'custom' category, you can now select it and start using it. If you're Ringtone isn't there you may need to turn your iPhone off and then on again before it appears.
- Don't forget to reset your song in the iTunes menu otherwise you will only be able to listen to the 30 second clip of it. Just do the steps for selecting a start and finish time and reset them.
You can create as many ringtones as you like -although it is quite a tedious process. At least now though you can enjoy your favourite song as your ringtone or maybe even have personalised ringtones for people in your contact list.
