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Almost as soon as the iPhone was in the hands of hackers they started looking for ways to install custom ringtones. Now that Apple has announced it will sell ringtones for $2 a piece, many people will no doubt go with the iTunes store.
To ensure that it corners the market on iPhone ringtones, Apple recently updated iTunes to blocks users from adding free custom ringtones to their phones. But despite Apple's efforts, a new workaround has already been found.
Which means you aren't stuck shelling out an extra dollar just to convert a song you already own into a ringtone. If you're not a afraid to do a little tinkering you can still get that copy of Sexy Back without having to pay for it a second time.
For a brief moment after the release of iTunes 7.4, users noticed that the main difference between ringtones and regular song files was a simple as a file extension. Apple quickly broke this ultra-simple free ringtone method with the release of iTunes 7.4.1, but if you haven't upgraded to 7.4.1 yet you can still get your free ringtones to work.
If you have iTunes 7.4 installed there should be a file in your iTunes Music Folder labeled "ringtones." This is where you'll want to put your song files, but first you'll need to edit them down to a suitable size.
For Mac users there are several options, you could use Apple's Quicktime Pro or Garageband if you have them, or edit MP3s in the free <a href="http://www.modmyiphone.com/wiki/index.php/Jailbreak_iPhone">Audion 3</a>, which features a nice waveform editing tool.
Windows users can edit audio files with Audacity (which also has a Mac version) or other popular audio file editors.
The next step is to open up iTunes and convert your file to AAC format. Use the "Reveal in Finder" option to locate the new file and then move it to the Ringtones folder. Now change the file extension to .m4r. This part can be tricky since both Windows and Mac like to hide file extensions. Make sure you aren't just appending a file extension to the hidden one, by choosing "Get Info" in Mac's Finder or, on Windows, make sure the "Hide extensions for known file types" option in Windows Explorer is turned off.
Now sync to your iPhone and you should see the new ringtones displayed.
At this point you can either make sure to <strong>not</strong> upgrade to iTunes 7.4.1 and most likely all subsequent versions, or you can try this simple trick: head back into the iTunes Music Folder and change your ringtones back to the .m4a extension. Convoluted, yes but it does work. For now.
If trying to keep up with the wack-a-mole game between Apple and the hackers doesn't appeal to you, there's a commercial software offering known as iToner, which might be more your style. IToner sells for $15.
There's no guarantee iToner will continue to work (iTunes 7.4 broke iToner, but Ambrosia Software, who makes the program, managed to get it working again in a few days) but at least, with a copy of iToner, you can let the developers play the wack-a-mole game.
iToner also gives a nice graphical interface, with drag-and-drop features, making it somewhat easier than rooting around in your filesystem for the right folders and constantly changing file extensions.
There is another method of getting custom ringtones on your iPhone as well, though it requires using the <a href="http://www.modmyiphone.com/wiki/index.php/Jailbreak_iPhone">Jailbreak</a> application and a bit of command line sauce. Use Jailbreak to unlock your iPhone and then install the SSH application and you can now interact with the iPhone's file system just as you would any other remote device — install ringtones and much much more.
Before we go though, we can't help but suggest that perhaps you should consider another ring option, the ever popular vibrate setting. Like a timeless black suit or little black dress, vibrate is classy, demure and doesn't annoy the hell out of everyone within twenty feet of you.
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