After iTunes 12.7 how can I add custom ringtones?

• In itunes, click on the device button near the top, looks like this (see screenshot #1 below):
• Click on "Summary" tab on the left
• Then on the right, in the "Options" section on the right, check "Manually manage videos" (Apple has really managed to hide this process in a convoluted way, why? I really don't understand).
  (see screenshot #2 below)
• Then click the "Tones" section on the left
• Drag a d drop an M4R ringtone file(s) of your choice from a finder window into iTunes window (see screenshot #3 below)

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#3

Saifan, I followed your step-by-step instructions but am still unable to copy over my ringtones, either by drag/drop into iTunes or via the "Automatically Add to iTunes" directory. I tried this on both the OSX and Windows 10 versions of iTunes with my 2015 iPhone 6 running iOS 11. The ringtones I want to add are the free Portal 2 ringtones released by Valve in 2012; these tones were sadly lost from my phone during the upgrade process, which necessitated an iCloud restore for reasons I shan't discuss, and from my iTunes library prompting a download de novo.

This is what my iTunes looks like on OSX when clicking "Edit" next to "Library". There is no option to view or manage tones on my OSX device. Dragging m4r files onto the "Tones" option under device, or into the list of Tones open on the right, have the same effect - which is to say, none, regardless of whether I try to add them all at once or only one at a time.

What other steps can I try to restore these tones?

Hi Saifan. I tried to follow those steps before finding this thread, but step 4 didn't work for me. When I drag the m4r ringtones to where my device appears in the iTunes sidebar, iTunes does not react.

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For reference, the strategy does work for my iPad Mini, which cannot be updated beyond iOS 9.3.5.

Here's how I did mine:

1. Add your song file to your iTunes Library (assuming it's an MP3 file)

2. Once added, select the song, Select File > Convert > Create AAC Version

3. Converted file will appear on your library with the same name as your original song file.

4. Select the AAC Version (verify through right clicking and selecting Song Info > File tab > kind AAC audio file)

5. Once you know which file is AAC, right click and select Show in Finder

6. Your finder pops up where the AAC file is located. It's a file with a .m4a extension. Copy that file and paste it anywhere you want (it can be in that same folder).

7. Select that copy you made and change the extension to ".m4r". A verification window will pop up asking you of the change. Select "Use .m4r"

8. Once you've created the .m4r file, go back to iTunes where you iPhone is connected. Make sure you have selected "Manually manage videos"

9. Once that's ticked, Go to your iPhone's "Tones" library.

10. Simply drag the .m4r file in and voila! (It should start getting copied to your phone.)

11. You may check by going to your phone's Settings > Sounds > Ringtone. It should appear above the default tones.

Hope that helped!

I've mentioned this before in my post: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8064423?answerId=32227694022#32227694022

You need step #2 if you want to be able to delete custom ringtones.

See step #2 here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8064423?answerId=32227586022#32227586022

I was wrong. I had admin mode unchecked in Properties - Shortcut - Advanced, but it was checked in Compatibility (not even sure how those two checkboxes are different?); so I was running in Admin mode when I thought I wasn't.

(I guess that explains why I was surprised that iTunes actually started.... as another forum discusses, there is a conflict in Win 10 v1073 between iTunes and the Bluetooth driver).

So, unchecked both Admin modes, killed BTTRAY.EXE, started iTunes, and voila, drag and drop works.

Ringtone back on my phone!

(the BT issues is here: Why doesn't iTunes launch under Windows 10 Creator?)

See the post immediately above yours. Ring any bells there? If not try unlocking your device, connecting it to USB, enabling the sidebar if hidden, and dragging from Explorer/Finder to the device where it appears in the sidebar. Don't open it first from the top icon, or expand it and try to use the tones folder.

tt2

If they were purchased from Apple then I believe they can now be redownloaded as with other past purchases.

If you rolled your own then you ought to have them stored on your computer and ideally backed up.

If they still exist on your device and nowhere else try Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.

See Create and manage ringtones in iTunes for more.

tt2

See Create and manage ringtones in iTunes. The ringtone exported from GarageBand will be in a folder called Import in your iTunes Media folder. I suggest you move it into the Tones folder if you have one, or rename the Import folder as Tones. You can then drag & drop or copy & paste the file to your device.

tt2

Have you looked at the advice in Create and manage ringtones in iTunes? Perhaps your steps are doing the work of trimming the length of the output file (steps 2-4) in the first section on creating tones.

tt2

cthomas77 wrote:

Why did Apple take away the ability to add custom ringtones, aside from restricting ringtone additions to purchased tones?

They didn't. See Create and manage ringtones in iTunes.

tt2

Apple have removed the ability to manage a collection of tones in the library and then sync those automatically to your device. They have not removed the ability to create or add custom tones altogether, regardless of what someone else has claimed. At the same time they removed tools for managing apps, books, iTunes U, but put in place tools for manual transfer. These have all been tested and work as described.

See Re: garage band i deleted the app and now i have some ringtones stuck in my phone. Perhaps you're trying to add back files that are still on your device but in limbo. I.e. you're looking at a bug that happens to affect you rather than a policy decision. See if taking those extra clean up steps will allow new tones to be added. Note in my user tip how I mentioned that I had to remove existing tones before I could add them back and get them to work. I've also created and added several new tones over recent months using the techniques described, as have many others.

tt2

I found that just copying ringtones into the list in iTunes no longer works. They'll appear on the list, but don't sync properly.

After spending a couple of hours wrestling with this I found the following does...at least for me:

1. Copy the audio file you want into iTunes and export it as an m4a file...you'll find other tutorials on exactly how to do this elsewhere if you're not sure
2. Change the file extension to m4r
3. Launch GarageBand, open a new empty project and drag your m4r file into the track window (you might be able to use the m4a file in instead, but I haven't tried that)
4. Select Share->Ringtone to iTunes and just let the command do its thing
5. Go back to Finder, select your m4r file and copy it
6. Go to the ringtone list for your device in iTunes and paste the file into the list
7. Sync and the file should appear on your device

I'm sure there are easier ways to do this, but I couldn't find one that worked even using GarageBand on my phone, which other users have suggested.

For reference I'm using IOS 11.2.2, GarageBand 10.2.0, and iTunes 12.7.3.46.

Hope that helps a few of you.

matty256 wrote:

It doesn’t seem to like me renaming each file beyond the .m4r for some reason

The file extension should be the final part of the file name.

• Tone 1.m4r
• Tone 2.m4r

etc. should be fine.

• Tone.m4r 1
• Tone.m4r 2

not so much, or is that not what you meant? 😕

There might also be an issue if each of the cuts has the same metadata. While you have the tracks in .m4a format connected to the iTunes library you should probably give them unique names.

tt2