In the old days, companies would charge extortionate fees for custom ringtones of the latest chart-topping hits, but those days are long gone.
Now, you can set anything you like as your ringtone, and it won’t cost you anything more than a few moments of your time.
Frustratingly, smartphone manufacturers don’t make it obvious that you’re able to do this, but with a bit of know-how, it’s easy to do on anymodern smartphone.
In this guide, we’ll take you through the steps of adding your own custom ringtone on either iOS or Android.
How to set a custom ringtone on Android
Android devicesmake setting a custom ringtone easier thanApple devices, but it’s worth noting that the exact steps will vary slightly between device manufacturers.
We’ll be using stock Android on aGoogle Pixel 6as an example, but the process will be very similar across other brands, too.
Firstly, you’ll need your desired song in MP3 or WAV format. There are various ways to download songs, so we’ll leave that part up to you, just make sure you do it legally.
Next, if you want a specific part of the song to play as your ringtone, you may wish to trim the song down. Ringtones tend to play for about 30 seconds, so you might want to just grab the chorus, for example.
There are numerous ways to do this. If you’re on a computer, you may use free software likeAudacity, and on Android, there are plenty of free MP3-cutting apps available on the Play Store.
Once you have your file sorted, just follow the steps below. We have separated the process depending on whether you’re using a computer or doing everything on the phone itself.
Using a computer
Using your phone
How to set a custom ringtone on iPhone
The process is fairly similar on an iPhone aside from the fact that Apple is more stringent with its file type requirements.
iPhone ringtones need to be in .m4r format and 30 seconds or less in length. Most songs tend to come in MP3 format, but don’t worry, we can convert them using nothing more than your iPhone and Apple’s free GarageBand app.
Download your desired song to your iPhone, then just follow the steps below:
If you already have a ringtone file on your Mac and just want to transfer it to your iPhone, then just follow the steps below. This will require macOS Big Sur or later.
