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The iPhone comes with a number of ringtones you can use, but it’s your iPhone, why not use a custom ringtone for specific contacts? That way, when a certain someone calls you, you can immediately know who it is. For example, you can set a song that’s special to you and your spouse, so when your spouse calls, you’ll hear the song and know immediately who it is. You can make a custom ringtone right on your iPhone with GarageBand or use your Mac, as long as you know the steps. Here’s how it works. How make and install ringtones from songs on your MacIf your music library is on your Mac, you can create ringtones using Apple Music. However, you must have the physical song file—streamed songs cannot be made into ringtones. Also, the files must not be copy-protected. How to make a ringtone from a song in Apple Music1. Launch the Music app. 2. Go to your music library and find the song you want to make into a ringtone. Play the song and keep an eye on the elapsed time at the top of the app. Note the time stamp where you want the ringtone to start, then note where you want it to end. (Note: Ringtones cannot be longer than 30 seconds.) 2. Right-click on the song and in the pop-up menu, select Get Info. 3. A window with the details of the song file will appear. Click Options. 4. In Options, there are timecodes for Start and Stop. Check the Start checkbox and enter the starting time from step 2. Then check the Stop box and enter the end time. Click OK. IDG 5. Select the file, and then click on the File menu and select Convert > Create AAC version. (If the only option you see is Create MP3 version, select it.) 6. A new copy of your song file will appear under the original. Right-click on it and select Show in Finder. IDG 7. A Finder window with the song file should appear on your desktop. Look at the file’s extension (the extension appears after the file name after a “.”). If you don’t see the extension, right-click on the file, select Get Info, and then look for the Name & Extension section. Then do one of the following:
Now your ringtone file is ready for your iPhone. Below are the steps to install it. How to load the ringtone from the Mac to your iPhone1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac via USB. 2. Open a Finder window (press Command-N). 3. In the sidebar under Locations, you should find your iPhone. Select it. 4. Find your ringtone file (the one with the .m4r extension), and drag it over to the Finder window that has your iPhone selected. 5. A green “+” icon should appear on your cursor and the file that you are dragging. That means you will be adding it to your iPhone. Drop the file to install it. IDG And that’s it! To see the ringtone, open the Setting app on your iPhone, then tap Sound & Haptics > Ringtone, and it will appear at the top of the list with other custom ringtones (if you have others). How to make a ringtone with GarageBand for iPhoneIf you want to make your own unique ringtone, you can use GarageBand on the iPhone. You can start from scratch (we’re not going to show you how to make a song in this tutorial) or you can edit an existing sound file, which we’ll demonstrate here. The ringtone must be no longer than 30 seconds. Before you edit in GarageBand, here’s how to prep for the file you want to edit.
Here’s how to edit a sound file in GarageBand for iPhone and then save it as a ringtone. 1. Launch GarageBand. If you don’t have it, it’s free in the App Store. It’s a big application, so give it some time to download. 2. Tap Tracks at the top of the screen. 3. Swipe through the screen left or right until you find the Audio Recorder section. Tap it. 4. At the top left of the screen tap the Tracks button. It’s the third button from the left. Left: the Tracks button.Right: the Loop Browser button. IDG 5. Tap the Loop Browser on the upper right. It’s the button with a loop icon. 6. A file browser window opens and you can navigate to the file you want to edit.
Songs can be imported into GarageBand, but they must be on your iPhone and not copy protected IDG 7. Press and hold the file, then drag it from the browser window to the GarageBand workspace. 8. Now it’s time to edit the track down to 30 seconds.
8. Once you’ve edited the song, you can save it as a ringtone. Tap the Navigation button in the upper left. It’s the arrowhead pointing downward. Tap and hold, then drag the bar at the end of the song to trim it. IDG 9. In the pop-up menu, select My Songs. A window called “GarageBand Recents” will open, and your saved GarageBand Project will display as “My Song.”
Apple 10. After the export is done, a window will appear that will ask you how you want to use the ringtone. You can set it now, or do so later in the iPhone’s Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone. To set a ringtone for a specific contact, you need to do that in the contact’s entry in the Contacts app ([your contact] > Edit > Ringtone). How to buy ringtones from AppleApple sells ringtones that you can buy directly on your iPhone. Here’s how to shop for ringtones. 1. Launch the iTunes Store app—not the Apple Music app or App Store. If you can’t find the iTunes Store, do a search on your iPhone or tell Siri, “Launch the iTunes Store.” You can also get to the iTunes Store through the Settings app by tapping Sound & Haptics > Ringtone > Tone Store. 2. Tap the More button at the bottom of the screen. It’s the button with three dots. 3. On the next screen, tap Tones. 4. Now you’re in the section with ringtones. Most ringtones are $1.29, while others are $0.99. Tap the icon to hear the tone, and tap the price button to buy it. When you buy a ringtone, you’ll be given options to set it. The ringtone will be available in the iPhone settings and you can always adjust it to your liking. IDG Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV. |