Ringtones

The Music app on a macOS computer can be used to create a free ringtone for iPhone. Making a ringtone from a song or Voice Memo in the Music library takes a few steps. Once the ringtone is created, it can be transferred to the iPhone and used for phone calls, incoming Messages, and other alerts. There are some songs that are copyright protected, which means that a ringtone cannot be made from that file.

Follow these steps on your Mac to make a free ringtone with Music. Once the ringtone has been created, copy the ringtone to your iPhone with the instructions below.

Sometimes the best ringtones are those that have been recorded directly on the iPhone. What's better than a unique, homemade ringtone that also costs nothing to add to your device? Since the stock iOS audio recording app is Voice Memos, here are instructions on how to convert a voice memo recording into a ringtone.

One of the interesting features Android users have been enjoying for some time includes video ringtones. While iPhone users can add a photo for incoming calls, there's currently no native option in iOS to use video for this purpose. But anyone with a jailbroken device can achieve this effect with the tweak LiveRinging. With LiveRinging, incoming calls can be assigned a video to automatically play.

Making unique ringtones can be a fun way to customize the iPhone. There are vast supplies of audio clips available on YouTube, which can easily be converted into iOS ringtones. While there are software packages capable of ripping YouTube audio to a computer, these instructions will focus on a browser-based method that takes less time.

Start by finding the YouTube video you wish to convert into an iPhone ringtone or text tone. Open the YouTube video in a web browser on the computer, then follow these instructions to create a ringtone file:

1. Copy the entire URL of the YouTube video from the address bar (this starts with http://www.youtube.com/watch).

Apple released iTunes 7.4.2 earlier today, officially geared towards addressing an "issue with creating ringtones using iTunes Plus song purchases and includes bug fixes to improve stability and performance," according to Apple's release notes. For many users, however, the update seems to have made matters worse.