Restoring ringtones purchased from iTunes

You can copy purchases from a device to your computer's iTunes via File > Devices > Transfer Purchases. Had you done that ? Are your ringtones in the Tones part of your computer's iTunes library ?

I expect that a Full Backup would do that, otherwise why would it be called a FULL backup? As I said I expected it to effectively image my phone.

Plus, it's not something I made and stored on my phone that wasn't backed up anywhere. It was a digital purchase which I don't expect to lose when I trasfer devices, even if not backed up. I expect to be able to redownload it.

Where are getting the term 'full backup' from ? A backup doesn't contain any downloaded content from the store (nor your own synced music, photos, videos), they should already be in your computer's iTunes library (if not then you can copy them over downloads from your device via File > Devices > Transfer Purchases) - restoring an iTunes backup then picks up the relevant downloads from your iTunes library (it's a waste of space to duplicate them in the actual backup), what is contained in the iTunes backup is listed on this page : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946

Had you copied your purchases from your phone to your computer's iTunes library ?

Ringtones (and audiobooks) have, as far as I know, always been a one-time only download from the store - what else you can redownload depends upon what country that you are in, and whether they remain in your country's store (you are only guaranteed one download of each item from the store).

As I said - expect a full backup would include transferring my purchases to my iTunes Library, although I can't understand why my purchases aren't globally linked to my account.

I'm getting the term full backup from the selection between an iCloud backup, which only keeps the "most important stuff", and an iTunes backup, which is meant to back up everything. I chose iCloud but from time to time manually backup to my computer, which is what I did when my phone was damaged and I was going to replace it. It seems to me that iCloud backup is actually better than iTunes - when I previously got my phone replaced under warranty I restored through iTunes and once it was finished downloading you would be hard pressed to tell it from the original. And it kept my ringtone.

You need to copy your purchases from your phone to your computer's iTunes library (File > Devices > Transfer Purchases) if you want to be able to restore a backup from it - the backup does not include any of your iTunes downloads, it expects them to be in your iTunes library, they are not duplicated in the actual backup.

Backing up to icloud will bakup your apps content/settings - whether you will be able to fully restore to an icloud backup will depend upon what content you had on your phone (audiobooks and ringtones not being redownloadable), and whether the apps, music, films, TV programmes are still available in your country's store. An iCloud backup does not include your own own music or videos in the Music and Videos apps.

I see that my purchased ringtones are in my iTunes on computer how do I get them back onto my phone?

I am happy to see that I am not the only one very annoyed by this. In the "full" backup it asked me to transfer purchases and I said "YES" and yet, my tones are gone.

Typically or at least at one point in IOS if I bought something on my phone, then went to my Ipad and found it again in the Itunes store, clicked "buy" again, it would either turn the button into "Download" or I'd click "Buy" and it would tell me I'd already purchased this "would you like to download it again". NOT THE SAME thing with these stupid tones.

I am angry that I am even waisting my time with this. This should be so straight forward. APPLE Just restore the darn ring tones, if you can invent the iPhone, you can figure this out for us. Come on.

Apple are not here, these are user-to-user forums. Ringtones (and audiobooks) are one-time downloads from the store. If you had copied them over to your computer's iTunes then they should be in the Tones part of its library - if they are then you can sync them to your devices.

Frankly, the situation became a nightmare; few days ago I’ve lost my music albums (120+) and I spend more than 4 hrs with an open discussion with apple support, today I discovered that I’ve lost my ringtones and my apps.

My company’s staff and I (10 mobiles) we have decided to purchase iPhones since the first edition, now we planning to switch to other brands than iPhone, “not any more nightmares”. Sorry guys but not any waste of time to restore something that I have paid for.

Cheers Takis

Where? On the main page when you plug your phone in under the second category "Backups." If you click Computer as the place to backup your information it says right below that, "A full backup of your iPhone will be stored on this computer." Clearly the word "full" is incorrect.

Depends upon what you are expecting 'full' to mean. It's a full backup of your documents, files, photos taken with the device (for cloud backups you have a choice for which apps to backup to the cloud) - none of your iTunes are included in a backup (either on iTunes nor to the cloud), if you backup to your computer's iTunes then the restore picks up your downloads from your iTunes library (if you have them on it)

What do you mean depends on my meaning of full? Who are you? Bill Clinton? I have to define the meaning of is? Full means full. Not partial, not some, and not a little bit of this and a little of that. It means full. There's no ambiguity in the word.

It is a full backup of your documents/files in your apps, unlike an iCloud backup where you can select which apps are backed up, no iTunes downloads are included in a backup. If you have failed to copy your downloads over to your computer's iTunes library, the store's terms advise you to take a copy of them, then you have lost them.

King, you're either biased or your'e trying to be annoying.

I can't get too mad at ya because I used to be that way when I was a preteen. Perhaps like you now, I thought that if Apple stated somewhere in their Terms and Conditions that when we buy ringtone media, as opposed to all the other media on iTunes (despite it being priced and packaged similar to said media in every other way), ringtones are special; that means you get to download it only once, then we forget your ever bought it and will make you buy it again if you don't do this, that, and the other thing, to preserve the file copy yourself.

I'd have thought that Apple fulfilled their duty to disclose (assuming they even did that much)...but in this instance, I'd be flat wrong.

Thank goodness we have a far more mature legal system in this country, one that pays significant attention not just to the letter of the law, but its spirit as well. Our legal system recognizes that it's far more valuable to the evolution of society if we can trust co's like Apple when we're buying what we have every right to believe is a familiar product.

It's a tenet of the law called "public confusion" and, not being a lawyer myself, I understand it to mean that it really doesn't matter what a company might have snuck into the legalese of their T's and C's, if 2 out of 10 reasonable consumers thought it was one way, and it's another, the co's going to be the one with the problem.

And this ain't 2 out of 10 that'll be confused/surprised by this ridiculousness, I'll bet it's well over half...WELL over half!

This is setting up to be another class action, like the "water damage" policy on the iPhone...except this one is far more egregious.

I've purchased no less than 35 ringtones from iTunes in the last decade; I have four saved in iTunes....that, plus I just wasted an hour figuring out that I was screwed. Talk about insult to injury, I'll never get that time back and I'm ******!

Christian Hunter

You are only guaranteed one download of any item from the store, not just ringtones. The terms, which you agreed to, advise you take a copy of all of your downloads :

Some iTunes Eligible Content that you previously purchased may not be available for subsequent download at any given time, and Apple shall have no liability to you in such event. As you may not be able to subsequently download certain previously-purchased iTunes Eligible Content, once you download an item of iTunes Eligible Content, it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage it, and you may want to back it up.

When I connect a device to my computer's iTunes and take a backup I get a prompt if there are any purchases on the device (including ringtones) that aren't on my computer and if I would like to transfer them over - or without backing up you can copy them manually via File > Devices > Transfer Purchases. If you aren't doing that then you risking losing any item, not just ringtones, if you only have them on that device and if you then have problems with that device - any item (app, music album etc) can be removed from a country's store at any time.