How To Make Music Your Ringtone On Iphone

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This wikiHow teaches you how to create a ringtone for your iPhone or Android phone. You can do this by using iTunes or Audacity respectively, both of which are available for both Windows and Mac computers.

1
Open iTunes. Its app icon resembles a multicolored note on a white background.
- If prompted to update, click Download iTunes and then let iTunes install the update. You may have to restart your computer after updating.
2

Select a song. Find the song that you want to use for your ringtone and double-click on it.

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3

Listen to the song. Make sure you note the time at which you would like your ringtone to start (e.g., one minute and ten seconds in).
4

Open the song's Info window. Make sure the song is selected, click Edit in the upper-left side of iTunes, and click Get Info. A window will appear.
5

Click the Options tab. This tab is at the top of the Get Info window.
6

Check the "start" and "stop" boxes. These are near the top of the window. Doing so will open a text field to the right of each option, allowing you to select a different start and stop time for the song.
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Set your ringtone's start and stop time. Type the time you want the ringtone to begin into the "start" field, then type the end time into the "stop" box. Then click OK at the bottom of the window.
- For example, if you want your ringtone to start at a minute into the song and end at a minute and fifteen seconds in, you'd type 1:00 into the "start" field and 1:15 into the "stop" field.
- You can add tenths of a second to the end of the timestamp to fine-tune the ringtone's start or stop time (e.g., type in 1:00.15 instead of 1:00).
8
Convert the song into a ringtone. Select the song, click File in the top-left corner, select Convert at the bottom of the drop-down menu, and click Create AAC Version. This will create and import an AAC version of the song; you should see it pop up below the original song.
- If you don't see the AAC option in the Convert menu, you'll first need to enable it by doing the following: click Edit (Windows) or iTunes (Mac), click Preferences..., click the General tab, click Import Settings..., click the "Import Using" drop-down box, click AAC Encoder, and click OK twice.
9
Go to the AAC file's location on your computer. Select the AAC version of the song (the shorter version), click File, and click either Show in File Explorer (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac).
- If you want to place the ringtone that you just created on an Android phone, skip ahead to adding the ringtone to your Android after this step.
10
Make sure file extensions are showing. To do so:
- Windows - Click the View tab, then check the File name extensions box in the "Show/Hide" section of the toolbar.
- Mac - Click File, click Get Info, click the Name & Extension triangle, and uncheck the "Hide Extension" box.
11
Change the file extension to M4R. To do so:
- Windows - Make sure the file is selected, click the Home tab, click Properties, replace the .m4a extension next to the song's name with .m4r, click OK, and click Yes when prompted.
- Mac - Replace the .m4a section of the song's name at the top of the Get Info window with .m4r, then check the "Hide Extension" box and close the Get Info window.
12

Copy the ringtone file. While the file is selected, press Ctrl+C (Windows) or ⌘ Command+C (Mac). On a Mac, you can also click Edit and then click Copy in the drop-down menu.
13
Attach your iPhone to your computer. Plug the iPhone charger cable's USB end into your computer, then plug the charging end into your iPhone.
- If you're adding an Audacity file from the next method, copy the ringtone and then open iTunes before continuing.
14

Click your iPhone's name. You'll find it below the "Devices" heading on the left side of the window once the iPhone finishes connecting. A drop-down group of options will appear below it.
15

Paste your ringtone into the "Tones" menu. Click Tones in the "Devices" list of options, then press Ctrl+V (Windows) or ⌘ Command+V . You should see the ringtone's name appear in the "Tones" list of songs.
16

Enable manual song management. Click the iPhone-shaped button in the upper-left section of iTunes to open your iPhone's page, then scroll down and check the "Manually manage music and videos" box in the "Options" section if it isn't checked.
17

Click the Tones tab again, then check your ringtone's name. Click the checkbox to the left of the ringtone's name to ensure that it gets uploaded to your iPhone.
18
Add the ringtone to your iPhone. Click Apply, then click Sync in the bottom-right corner of the window. When the syncing completes, your ringtone will be on your iPhone. You can set the ringtone as your iPhone's main tone, or as a specific contact's ringtone.
- In some cases, clicking Apply will cause the iPhone to begin syncing automatically.
- You'll find your tone at the top of the ringtones menu in your iPhone's Sounds settings.
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1
2
Download and install LAME. LAME is an extension for Audacity that will allow you to save your ringtone as an MP3 file, which is preferable for Android phones. To do so:
- Windows - Go to http://lame.buanzo.org/#lamewindl and click the Lame v3.99.3 for Windows.exe link. Double-click the setup file, click Yes when prompted, and follow the on-screen steps.
- Mac - Go to http://lame.buanzo.org/#lameosxdl and click the Lame Library v3.99.5 for Audacity on macOS.dmg link. Double-click the DMG file, then verify and install LAME.
3
Open Audacity. Its app icon resembles a blue pair of headphones with an orange sound wave between them.
- If Audacity opened automatically after installing it, close it and re-open it to ensure that the LAME extension is incorporated.
4

Click File . It's in the top-left side of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.
5

Click Open… . You'll find this near the top of the drop-down menu.
6

Select a song. Find and click on a song that you want to use as your Android's ringtone, then click Open in the bottom-right corner of the window.
7
Select a section of the song. Click and drag your mouse from the part of the song at which you want to start the ringtone to the part of the song at which you want to stop the ringtone.
- You may want to listen to the song beforehand to get a rough idea of where you should start and stop.
8
Save the selection as a ringtone. Click File, click Export Selected Audio..., click the "Save as type" drop-down box, click MP3 files in the drop-down menu, click a save location on the left side of the window, and click Save in the bottom-right corner.
- If you want to use your selected audio as an iPhone ringtone, add .m4r to the end of the file's name in the "File name" box, then go to the adding a ringtone to an iPhone section of this article.
9

Copy your ringtone. Go to the folder in which you saved the ringtone, click the ringtone file to select it, and then press Ctrl+C (Windows) or ⌘ Command+C (Mac).
10
Connect your Android to your computer. Attach the USB end of your Android's charger to your computer, then attach the charger end to your Android.
- If you're on a Mac, you'll need to download Android File Transfer to view the Android's folders. To do so, go to http://www.android.com/filetransfer/, click DOWNLOAD NOW, double-click the downloaded DMG file, and install Android File Transfer.
11
Open your Android's ringtone folder. To do so:
- Windows - Open Start, open the File Explorer , click your Android's name on the left side of the window, and double-click the Ringtones folder.
- Mac - Open Android File Transfer, then double-click the Ringtones folder.
- Some Androids store the Ringtones folder deep inside of the internal storage. If you can't find Ringtones in the main window, try opening the media folder, double-clicking audio, and then looking for ringtones there.
12
Paste in your ringtone. Click a blank space in the Ringtones folder, then press Ctrl+V (Windows) or ⌘ Command+V . Your ringtone file should appear in the Ringtones folder, meaning that it is now on your Android's hard drive.
- You should be able to find and select the ringtone in your Android's Settings.
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Add New Question

Question

How can I set a song from YouTube as my ringtone?

Rip it from YouTube on your computer, then send it to your phone. There are several websites that do this, such as listentoyoutube.com.
Question

How do I create a ringtone of my name sung by a female?

Just record a woman singing your name, and then make it your ringtone.
Question

I want to create a ringtone from a line of dialogue in a movie. Is this possible?

Yes, it is and there are a good number of ways how to. You can look on YouTube for the exact line or download the movie from the Internet and use an audio editing software like audacity. Another way would be to use an open-source screen capture program with the movie's DVD or with an online streaming service., which would be significantly safer.

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Most phones support ringtone lengths of up to 30 seconds.

Converting music that you own into a ringtone is legal, but selling those ringtones is not.

About This Article

Article SummaryX

To make your own android ringtone, start by downloading and installing Audacity and its extension, LAME, on your computer. Next, open Audacity, click "File," then "Open," and pick the song you want. Afterwards, click on "Open," then click and drag your mouse to select the part of the song you want to use. Once it's selected, click "File," then "Export Selected Audio," and go to the "Save As Type" drop-down menu to select "MP3 files" before you save it. Finally, copy the ringtone, connect your device to the computer, and paste the ringtone into your Android's ring folder. To learn how to make your own iPhone ringtone, scroll down!

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