Can't set song as ringtone.

Tired of Apple's controlling ways and greed. I have My own ringtones. I really hate iTunes and have Napster and cannot use my old ringtones on new iPhone 7. If I knew this I wouldn't have bought it!
This is the end after this Phone of ANY Apple products for me and my family! I really dislike being forced to buy from my ringtones from m Apple and I cannot even edit like want. Pure 100% greed.
Apple you are killing yourself! I am finished. Next Phone is a non-Apple. All Apple computers and iPads are history in this family. Good-by

You CANNOT set a song as ringtone you bought from the store, without a lot of time and work (see above). Plain and simple. Bottom line: if you are tempted to click on that 'store' button thinking you are going to be able to set your favorite tune as a ringtone, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY, unless you want to spend hours doing so.

iPhone: the worst phone in the world. Yes, it's pathetic. I've been on Apple computers since the late 80's, but finally got an iPhone last week (09/14/2017).

So it's only been a week: Can't select a song as a ringer without making changes and limiting the time that it plays. How pathetic, Apple.

I am returning the iPhone with no regrets, and I'm going back to Android. Gotta have my music, any way I want it - as ringer, not as a shortened (30 second) version, not as a new file with a different extension, not something that has to be loaded through iTunes...

I just went through all of this and it wont let me drag and drop the thing to tones. Its 30 seconds long but when i drag it to tones folder it wont even appear or even seem to have any recognition that i tried to put it there

Yeah most of us know about how to do it - and that's why iOS *****. In Android there's no fiddling with external programs, no changing file extensions or the file length: all it takes is selecting the song on the phone and choosing it as your notification of any type - ringer, message alerts, alarm - in its full length.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

Ok. Good bye.

Not really. My virtual studio programs require MacOS, so my computer brand won't be getting changed out anytime in this life.

...and back to the original subject,

shauni92x wrote:

I have the iPhone 6 and I recently purchased a song from iTunes to use as my ringtone, It is in my purchased music however it just won't let me use it as a ringtone.

There's a free app called ringtones! which simplifies all the steps that you would be taking anyway if you went ahead and did the process yourself. It also links you to a video if you need help.

I don't really understand why people are so concerned about having to trim the song length to 30 seconds for a ringtone, since your phone rarely rings longer than that before going to voicemail. While I agree it is an extra step, you really aren't missing anything. However, you have your choice, I'm just not understanding how something as trivial as a ringtone could be a showstopper for a phone.

You have the ability to purchase ringtones in iTunes, however if you purchase a song, believing you can use it as a ringtone, it will not work directly from there. They do have special clips of selected music that can be used as ringtones, and are formatted as such.

ChrisJ4203 wrote:

I don't really understand why people are so concerned about having to trim the song length to 30 seconds for a ringtone, since your phone rarely rings longer than that before going to voicemail.

I think they want to annoy the rest of the world.

I made my own ringtones, too. They sound great on my iPhone 7 Plus, just as they did on the iPhone 6 before that.

If you can't figure out how to add your ringtones to your phone, the fault is not with the iPhone.

When you look at your iTunes while preparing to do a Synch you can move the song to the area within iTunes for Custom Ringtones.

Here is a complete process which has many more steps then you may need, but it should help.

1. Open iTunes.
2. Play the song from which you want to make your tone and note the start and stop times you want. The total time needs to be 30 seconds or less.
3. Select the song and press command-I, or right-click the song (2-finger click if you are using the trackpad) and select Get Info.
4. Select the Options tab and copy the Stop time to the clipboard or to another document. You will use this later to restore the original time to your song. Enter your chosen start and stop times for the tone and make sure they are clicked. Increase the Volume Adjustment if the song is not very loud (you may need to experiment with this). Click OK.
5. Right-click the song again, or select it and click File (in the top menu) –> Create New Version –> Create AAC Version. The menu may only show an option to Create MP3 Version, or some other format. If so, click iTunes (in the menu at the top of the screen) –> Preferences –> General. Where it says When a CD is inserted, click Import Settings, then under Import Using: select AAC Encoder and iTunes Plus for the setting and click OK.
6. After you create your new version it will appear as a duplicate track except the time will reflect your adjustment.
7. If you want to change the title, do it now. I tried changing the title after deleting it from iTunes (the next two steps), but when I brought it back in to iTunes, iTunes used the title it had had before.
8. Right-click the original song and restore the start and stop times to their original values. If you don’t, iTunes will only play the part you selected for the tone.
9. Right-click the short track you just created and select Show in Finder. Move the file to a location outside of the iTunes folder, such as the desktop, or a folder for your homemade ringtones.
10. Delete the track in iTunes.
11. In the folder where you have moved it, select the file and click on it again (don’t double-click) so you can edit the filename. Change the extension from .m4a to .m4r (and confirm when asked). If you don’t see the extension, make sure you are in Finder. Click Finder –> Preferences –> Advanced and check Show All File Extensions. Do not simply add an extension if you don’t see the current one.
12. In iTunes, click on File –> Add to Library (or press command-O) and find/select it there. Open your Tones library to see if it is there. If Tones is not an option in your Library selector button (upper left corner of the iTunes window), click iTunes –> Preferences –> General and check Tones in the Show selection.
13. Connect your iPhone to your computer and click the iPhone button in iTunes. Click the Tones button in the banner menu and check Sync Tones. Click All Tones or click Selected Tones and make sure the ones you want are checked.
14. Click on Apply at the bottom of the window to sync your phone.
15. When the your has synced (or “sunc”?), open it and tap Settings –> Sounds –> Ringtone, and your new tone should be there. Tap it and listen to see if it starts the way you want and is the correct volume. If everything is fine you can treat it like any other ringtone. Text tones, mail tones, individual ring-tones, etc., all access the same menu of sounds.
16. If you want to do it over, you can delete it from your phone the same way you would delete any song or tone. Go back to step 12, click Selected Tones, uncheck any tones you want to delete from your phone and click Apply to sync the phone again. Then delete that tone from iTunes on your computer.

I'm having the same problem with my new iPhone 6. I can see the custom tone in my tone group, but when I edit a contact with the custom ringtone (I see the ringtone assigned to the contact). The default tone rings.

I'm trying this process, but the purchased song is already an AAC file, and when I go to "Create New Version," the only option I get is to "Create AIFF Version." Any thoughts?

Ignore that last reply; I see my error.