How to add custom ringtones post-iTunes era?

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41 points

How to add custom ringtones post-iTunes era?

I always used custom ringtones that I made myself, and then I would make it an AAC file which would save .m4a, then I would rename it to .m4r and I would drag it into the Tones section of my "iPhone" device in iTunes.

After Apple Music replaced iTunes and you now sync music and files with the Finder I do not see the same option in the Finder under my "iPhone" device.

When I try to drag the .m4r file it seems the entire iPhone device pane in the Finder is drop point and when I drop it there it says "This file could not be added," and it doesn't give a reason.

I have seen other threads on the subject and the advice seems to ignore the distinction that we're not using iTunes anymore, or that we are not using a custom app or something. I don't know.

I used to be able to drag CUSTOM ringtones MANUALLY files I CREATED that are AAC audio files with the extension .m4r and I would drag it into tones and it would work.

I am asking laser-focused specific question with no desire to do anything else. I don't want to buy ringtones from the iTunes Store.

I want to know how to do it manually as I did before. If that is not possible I want to know a way to add custom ringtones as I did before through some other method that is now the way to do it.

I am not interested in some spammy app.. This is the other thing I found when I search for an answer (not on Apple Communities) is some spam article that is shilling for some 3rd party app saying to download this app blah blah blah. I don't want to download any 3rd party apps.

HOWEVER if this is the only way to do it, and it's legitimate and doesn't have any drawbacks like spamming the heck out of you or installing malware on your computer I am open to it.

Posted on Feb 9, 2023 06:10 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

hillie Author

Level 1

41 points

Feb 12, 2023 09:39 AM in response to Dorain1

There is no other way to do it other than using an app that costs $200 or another full blown DAW?

*sigh* Well I guess if it works. Though it's disappointing that something that before was so incredibly simple has been made more awkward and complicated when they could have easily left the original feature in place.

One day I hope that things like this cease to happen and the engineers at Apple don't remove good features from things that make absolutely no sense to remove.

BTW I do not consider this question closed until I get a response that tells me how to do it EASILY like before without jumping through hoops and putting GarageBand on my iPhone which I don't want to do.

Garageband is a music making app, not a ringtone app. Same with Logic Pro. Though I do have Logic Pro. and it is cool that I can easily make my own music a ringtone but that's not the use case here.

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Answer 2

Dorain1

Community Specialist

Feb 11, 2023 02:25 PM in response to hillie

Hey hillie,

We may have the steps to help you with creating ringtones. Take a look a the link and the section of steps we listed and see if this provides the help you are looking for.

These steps are found in Create a ringtone of your Logic Pro or GarageBand for Mac song - Apple Support along with additional information.

Set up iCloud Drive

To share songs from your Mac to GarageBand for iOS, you need iCloud Drive. If you haven’t already, set up iCloud Drive on your Mac and your iPhone or iPad.

Share your project

1: On your Mac, open the project in Logic Pro or GarageBand.

2: Share it to GarageBand for iOS:

• In GarageBand, choose Share > Project to GarageBand for iOS.

• In Logic Pro, choose File > Share > Project to GarageBand for iOS.

3: Select the "GarageBand for iOS" folder in iCloud Drive, then click Save.

Export the project as a ringtone

1: Open GarageBand on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

2: In the My Songs browser, tap Browse , tap Select, then tap the project you shared from your Mac.

3: Tap , then tap Ringtone.

4: Enter a name for the ringtone, then tap Export. If the ringtone is longer than 30 seconds, tap Continue to have GarageBand shorten the ringtone automatically. Or, tap Cancel to return to the song so you can shorten it.

5: Tap Export.

6: When the ringtone is finished exporting, you can assign the ringtone.

Take care!

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Answer 3

hillie Author

Level 1

41 points

Feb 13, 2023 06:06 AM in response to green500

There is no reason to provide Apple feedback because I have not been told that I cannot do it directly by interacting with the iPhone in the finder. I'm just given other ways to do it.

I find this is pretty common online so. Until someone tells me you cannot do it straight away from finder -> iPhone then I would potentially be sending Apple erroneous feedback.

My question was how to add ringtones to the iPhone in macOS Monterey and up and iOS 16 and up WITHOUT using 3rd party apps. In this case Garageband is a third party app because it's something other than the sync tool and the device. (sync tool is the finder)

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Answer 4

green500

Community Specialist

Feb 12, 2023 01:03 PM in response to hillie

Hello hillie,

In our previous message we provided the steps to create the custom ringtones. We recommend following the steps there.

We appreciate the feedback you have provided. Please kindly provide Apple feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

Take care.

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How to add custom ringtones post-iTunes era?

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