How to use Ringtone Maker on iPhone: complete walkthrough

Requirements and what's free

• Device: iPhone running iOS 18.6 or later (iOS 26 supported). iPhone-only; about 48 MB.
• Price: free to download and make ringtones. Optional one-time purchases (no subscription) unlock unlimited exports and extras such as the full sound library. The PRO badge in the app marks those.
• Also needed: GarageBand (free, by Apple) for the final export step.
• Languages: 29, including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish and Ukrainian.
• Privacy: audio is processed on the phone; nothing is uploaded.

Importing: four ways to get audio in

1. Music library

   Tap Import → Music to browse songs on the phone. Streamed Apple Music tracks are DRM-protected and appear greyed out; purchased and downloaded non-DRM songs work.

2. Videos from Photos

   Import → Photos, or open the video in Photos and Share → Ringtone Maker. The audio track is extracted automatically.

3. Files

   Import → Files for MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC or AIFF in iCloud Drive, Downloads or any cloud provider. Tap a cloud file once to download it first.

4. Share sheet from anywhere

   Voice Memos, Mail, Messages, WhatsApp, Safari downloads: tap Share and choose Ringtone Maker. If it's hidden, tap More and enable it.

The sound library

Don't have a song in mind? The Library tab has ready-made melody ringtones sorted by style — Instrumental, Electronic, Classic, Jazz and more. Tap play to preview, the heart to favorite, the pencil to open it in the trimmer, or the bell to export it as-is. Some library sets are part of the optional upgrade.

The trimmer

The trimmer shows a waveform (or video frames) with two yellow handles. Drag them to set the start and end; the times are shown underneath. Tap play to preview the selection. Rules of thumb:

• Ringtone / alarm: up to 30 seconds — the app won't let you go over, because iOS rejects longer tones.
• Text / notification tone: 2–10 seconds.
• Start half a second before the beat you want so the first ring isn't silent.
• Trim / Restore: Trim commits the selection; Restore brings back the full source if you change your mind.

Boost Volume and Improve quality

Boost Volume (1× to 7×) raises the level of the whole clip. Songs rarely need more than 1–2×; voice memos, phone videos and screen recordings often need 3–7×. If you hear crackling, back off a notch. Improve quality is an experimental enhancer for muddy or low-bitrate sources — try it on, listen, and turn it off if you don't like the result.

Export formats: Ringtone, Song, Project

For a normal ringtone choose Ringtone, tap Download, then in GarageBand tap Share → Ringtone → Export and pick Standard Ringtone, Standard Text Tone or Assign to contact. The tone is now in Settings → Sounds & Haptics.

Projects: every tone is editable later

Everything you make is kept in the Projects list with its length and size. From there you can play it, tap the pencil to re-trim or re-boost, or tap the bell to export it again — useful when you want the same song as a 30-second ringtone and a 3-second text tone, or when you switch phones and need to reinstall tones.

Setting the tone in iOS

• Calls: Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone.
• Texts: Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Text Tone.
• One contact: Contacts → person → Edit → Ringtone / Text Tone.
• Alarm: Clock → Alarm → Sound → Ringtones.
• Mail, Calendar, Reminders, Voicemail: their rows under Sounds & Haptics.