Can't play ringtone in iOS 11

Rbrylawski

I think you are trivialising the problem here. I’ve just paid £1,000 for a phone that doesn’t ring! I lost my ringtone when I upgraded, my phone now uses some default tone that I don’t hear so, it effectively doesn’t ring. I’ve spent the last couple of months ‘waiting’ for a fix that I understand isn’t coming so I’m now on my third day of trying to get my phone to do a vital, very basic, very necessary function. Now I could just pay 79p and choose one of the 20 odd teen oriented ringtones now on offer but I should have been told that I would be forced to do that before I spent £1000 of my hard earned cash. Loyal customers should not be forced into ‘fixing’ any basic function of their phone, and to suggest that’s it’s ok to treat your customers with such contempt is as ridiculous as the problem itself. I have followed all the on- line instructions to fix the problem and now have NO ringtones on my phone! A phone that doesn’t ring is not fit for purpose and I want my money back.

I'm not trivializing anything. I don't work for Apple. No one here works for Apple. This is a user to user only forum. I have no clue what or if Apple is going to do anything about this. You really however, should amend your post. You surely have the ringtones that were built into your phone. If however, your phone won't ring on a default (native to iOS) ringtone, your phone is defective plain and simple and you should make an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar. And in my case, all but one purchased ringtone wouldn't work in iOS 11. One. So, I bought a replacement for $1.99.

I am using purchased ringtones. They work but can't be assigned to specific callers anymore. Nothing anyone including Apple Support suggests doing helps fix this. I was told by Apple to "repurchase" the ringtones, and that "should" work..

Really? Repurchse?? ...and it "should" work?? Why purchase something I already own from Apple?.. Then a few minutes later Apple Support says they are "working on fixing this issue"... Really? Fixing it, yet telling people to repurchase??? QWHAT A MONEY RIP OFF.....SEEMS AS IF EVERYTIME THEY HAVE AN iOS UPDATE, WE LOSE A PREVIOUS FEATURE... WHAT A CROCK..

Twice now after software updates I have had to fix it. I bring up the ringtone I want then I shut it totally down. Then I reboot the phone shutting it down. That fixed it both times but I assume the same thing will happen the next time Apple has a software update.

I have battled Apple since September when my purchased ringtones quit and designated calls rang with default. I have spent probably over 100 hours on the phone with techs only to be told this week that Apple changed the format of old ringtones. You can forget about getting them back. They won’t even give me an iTunes credit to repurchase replacements in the new format. My next phone will NOT be an Apple!

After months of fighting this battle with Apple to get purchased ringtones to work with designated contacts, I finally am told that they changed the format on them. Don’t wait for a “fix” on an update. There will not be one. Also, they refuse to give me a credit to repurchase these in the new format. Apple just put me and my daughter into android phones

Hi! I saw your comment about your custom ringtones not working after an IOS 10 update.

I have the same exact problem with my 7plus. I did everything that was recommended by other comments. I redownloaded a ringtone. Didn’t work. Reset my phone. Didn’t work. I even deleted a contact, then set up a new contact for that person and assigned the ringtone. nada

Did you ever find a solution. Apple support is calling me back, but I don’t think they have any idea either.

Yes, I did. You mentioned trying everything but.... haha! I followed the directions from an apparent Apple Tech. He (she) stated to set your Ringtone sound to default, reboot

, and then select the sound you want for your ringtone. I’ve had no problems since. I don’t know if it worked for anyone else who might have tried, but it worked for me on my 6S Plus. I hope it works for you – good luck! :)

I did all of those “fixes” also but nothing worked. Hours and hours spent with support techs....no solution. I was told a couple of months ago to wait for an upgrade fix. Two upgrades later, no fix. I finally pressed them hard, going up the chain and was finally told that old ringtones will not work because they have changed the format. I asked for a credit to be applied so I could repurchase with the new format that would work. They informed me that they will not do that. Apple changed the format, did not inform customers, and are requiring us to be out or repurchase them.

I am not really sure what it was you was trying to fix here. My ringtones that came on my phone all work. My downloaded ringtone work when I click on them. What quit working was getting a downloaded purchased ringtone that was assigned to a designated person to ring. Although on my contact info, the designated ringtone appears, when that person calls, it rings on my default ringtone (no longer the tone assigned).

To get the ringtone you want for your friend , make sure that the current ringtone is the default one, reboot the phone, and then reassign the ringtone you want to your friend’s number. Those are the directions I followed from someone’s post in this forum, and it worked for me and I’ve had no problems since my original post. Hope it works for you - Good luck.

I was told that a fix was needed and would come out. Two fixes since then came and went but the ringtone issue not addressed. I think it is time for Apple to tell their technicians the truth about the new format that makes our ringtones obsolete. But then, iPhone users like me would all be calling for reimbursement to replace our already purchased ringtones with upgraded ones in the new format. They refused to issue any credit to me after I pressed them on it. They intentionally took away something we purchased, covered it up, and now require us to buy them all again. Bad business!

Folks, I'll post once more in case some of you missed it. I synched with iTunes via sync cable. After synching, go to Settings>Sounds & Haptics>Ring Tone. Scroll to very top. Download All Purchased Tones. Worked for me when I did the first upgrade of iOS 11. Same thing happened when I upgraded to 11.2.6. Repeated the synching process and all ringtones restored.

I just upgraded to an 8plus from. A badly refurbished 6plus. I was having the same issue and hoped the issue would be resolved with the new phone but such was not the case. The ringtone default is super annoying when I have paid for so many others. It works sometimes with selected contacts but when an unknown number comes through it goes to the default Openinv tone.

This is THE SOLUTION.

Can somebody promote Maui dude’s reply as the solution. No reboot, no shutting down, no syncing with iTunes,etc... Just click downloads as instructed and associate the ringtone back to your contacts.

FWIW, my original ringtone had “(Album version)” appended to the ringtone name but the newly re-downloaded one did not.