Creating Ringtones for the iPhone using iTunes

Currently for the iPhone 3G, you are able to create custom ringtones and transfer it to your iPhone. To do it, you'll need to use iTunes. I'm currently using iTunes v7.7.1.11.

To create your own ringtone, do the following:

1. Run your iTunes
   
   
2. Find the MP3 file or song you wish to convert to a ringtone
   
   
3. Right-click on the file chosen in Step 2, and choose the option Get Info
   
   
4. Under the Options tab, you'll see the option Start Time and Stop Time. The trick is to select a section of the MP3 that last about maximum 30 seconds (E.g., Start Time: 0:00, Stop Time: 0:30). After that, Click OK. Play-back the MP3 to ensure that the selection is to your satisfaction.
   
   For the iPhone 3G, it rejects any ringtones that are too long. For ringtones that are too long, it will not appear in your ringtone list even though its successfully transferred to the iPhone.
   
   
5. Right-click on the file chosen in Step 2, and choose the option Convert to Selection to AAC. This is the type of music file that the iPhone accepts for ringtones. iTunes will auto-play that converted music file after it is converted.
   
   If you cannot see this option, goto Edit > Preferences > Advanced (tab) > Importing (tab). Select AAC Encoder under Import Using, and click OK.
   
   
6. Right-click on the newly converted file from Step 5, and select Copy. Paste it on another folder, or paste it on your desktop.
   
   
7. You should see your file, with the extension m4a. Rename this file to the extension m4r. This is the iPhone ringtone extension.
   
   
8. Go back to your iTunes, and select File > Add File to Library. Select the file in Step 7. You should see a new category called Ringtones in your iTunes.
   
   
9. Either sync your iPhone with your iTunes library, or just drag the file in step 7 to your iPhone.
   
   
10. Go to your iPhone sound settings, and you should be able to see your ring tone in the selection.
    

That's all to it... Remember to go back to Step 3 and remove the selection for your song. Otherwise when you play the file in iTunes, it will be stuck at your selection. :)

The next question someone will ask is if there's a way to insert a custom Text Message tone. The answer is if you want to do it through iTunes, no. There's no way to put in your own Text Message tone. There are other means though, but it requires you to "hack" your iPhone.

I do hope that Apple provides a way to insert custom Text Message tones though.