How to use an mp3 file as a ringtone on my iPhone?

By S. B., 19 March, 2014

Forum

iOS and iPadOS

Hello,
First off, I recognize that I may be biting off far more then I can chew. <smile>

I want to be able to somehow load a MP3 file on to my iPhone 4S and then make it a ringtone.

Can someone please tell me what I need to do in order to make this happen?

My task is being hampered by the simple fact that my current PC is unable to access either iTunes or iCloud because I'm not able to change the browser to one the these sites require. (Yes, it is a shared computer ... for now).

Thank you everyone for your time in reading this and for any and all assistance.

S. B.

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Comments

creating ringtones

You can create you're ringtones using garage band when creating the ring tones make sure the tone is only 30 seconds long.

You can also splice it out in

You can also splice it out in iTunes as well.

find the file in your iTunes library.
hit cmd j and add the date modified column. you will need this later.
go back to the file and hit cmd i
click options tab
type in a start and end time. make sure it is 30 seconds or less.
go to your prefs in iTunes and make sure that AAC is checked under the import as settings. You can change bit rate and all of that stuff or leave it as default.
Ok out of the prefs until you get back to your piece.
Right click the piece and click create AAC version.
sort by date modified 10 find your shorter piece and show it in the finder with cmd r.
rename the file so it has a .m4r extension. Say yes if the mac yells at you.
import this creation back in to iTunes.

Good luck and hope that helps.

Ringtone length

Unless Apple closed off this loophole, one can create ringtones longer than 30 seconds. The procedure can be found by searching "Can I extend the iPhone's maximum ringtone duration?" on Google, the site the thread is located on is Apple Stack Exchange. It is entirely possible that Apple made sure this didn't work anymore since the original discussion was several years ago, I don't have any long ringtones on my phone right now, so I can't test whether long ringtones created previously still work and I haven't had time to mess around with creating new ringtones lately, but since it at least used to work, I thought it worth mentioning in case anyone cares to try it. Regards, Chris

Ringtone follow-up

Hello everone, Thank you for the well thought out responses. I now have a copy of firefox on this PC so I can now work with iCloud etc. I have also "converted" the MP3 file in question to a M4A. The file is about 29.91 seconds in length already. So, how do I now get is crazy file from my PC, it is in iTunes, to my iPhone? Or is there something more that I need to do? I noticed that one respondent, (sorry I'm not recalling your name), said I would need the final file extension to be M4R??? Thanks again everyone S. B.

Yes

You need to find the ringtone file that you created, rename the file from an m4a extension to have an m4r extension, then import the m4r file into iTunes. You should then be able to sync your ringtones and it should appear.

Mission accomplished

Thanks again for all your help. I've finely got that pesky ringtone created, transfered, and put to use. Considering this is Friday, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! S. B.