Free iPhone Ringtones

Make Custom iPhone Ringtones Without Paying Apple $2 / Wired How To's

Good writeup!

How To Make a Free iPhone Ringtone using iTunes and Free Software

Shortly after the release of iTunes 7.4 -- which came out Wednesday, September 5, the day ringtones were announced -- users noticed that the main difference between ringtones and regular audio files was their file extensions. Regular AAC files have the file extension .m4a, while ringtones use the file extension .m4r.

• Locate your "Ringtones" folder. If you have iTunes 7.4 installed, there should be a folder in your iTunes music library labeled "Ringtones." ITunes 7.4 will automatically create a new folder in your music library for storing ringtones the first time you open a .m4r file, provided you have the "Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized" option checked.

• Edit the song down to a suitable size and length. The size of an allowed ringtone on the iPhone tops out at around 3 megabytes. For length, shoot for 20 to 30 seconds.

For Mac users, there are several ways to whittle down your tracks. You could use Apple's Quicktime Pro or Garageband if you have them. You can also edit MP3s in the free Audion 3 or the shareware app MP3 TrimmerAudacity.($11). Windows users can edit audio files with the free and cross-platform

Pick the 20 to 30 seconds you want to use as your ringtone and save the file as an MP3.

• Add the shortened file to your iTunes library.
• Right-click on the clip in iTunes and choose "Convert to AAC." The clip will need to be an AAC file in order to be used as a ringtone.
• Change the file extension to .m4r and move the AAC to the "ringtones" folder in your music library. Since both Windows and Mac OS X like to hide file extensions, the renaming part can be tricky. Make sure you aren't just appending a file extension to the hidden one. On a Mac, choose "Get Info" in the Finder and make sure "Hide extension" is unchecked. In Windows, make sure the "Hide extensions for known file types" option in Windows Explorer is turned off.
• Mac owners can use the free iRing Automator application to run this process in a single click.
• When you sync your iPhone, you should see the new ringtones displayed in your phone's sound settings.

For iTunes 7.4.1
Apple quickly disabled this ultra-simple free ringtone method with the release of iTunes 7.4.1. If you've already upgraded to iTunes 7.4.1, try this simple trick.
Head back into the iTunes music folder and change the extension of your .m4r ringtones back to .m4a. Convoluted, yes, but it does work. For now.
How To Make a Free iPhone Ringtone using iPhone Unlocking Software

If you would rather not use iTunes to manage your iPhone's ringtones, you can use iPhone unlocking software and a bit of command line sauce.
Using Jailbreak
1. Unlock your iPhone.
2. Install the SSH application, which lets you interact with the iPhone's file system just as you would any other remote device. You'll be able to install ringtones and much much more.
Using iPhoneSIMFree

Thank you so much for this. I refuse to pay $.99 for ringtones

A friend of mine has been STRUGGLING with that... thank YOU so much for the info. I'm going to pass it along to her (plus it's good to know for when I get my iphone here shortly).

Thank you ,
I will have a try!

any word on if this is still working? Do you have to have the older itunes.

I messed around with this breifly lastnigh for a friend but his computer wouldnt let us install the older itunes kept says something " unable to run/install because this file was written by a new version" or something like that.....

Is there anything else to do. He just got it so he doesnt want to unlock it yet but if thats the only way I will let him know.

thank you for sharing.

I am very interested in putting my own ring tones on my iPhone 3G. If you could direct me toward the best method I would be very grateful. Itunes is now on version 7.7.1.11 and this post refers to version 7.4..
Thank you

Thanks, but i bought a year ago like in september the iphone ringtone maker caus in that time i think there was no way to do ringotnes for an iphone idf it wasnt through this progrmas, btw great info

thanks, yesterday i used a program called iRing2(?) and its only 30 days trial. I'll try this method tomorrow, gotta check my iTunes version

Thanks for the info you could also try
hxxp://support.apple.com/kb/HT1358?viewlocale=en_US]How to create custom ringtones in GarageBand 4.1.1

I use iPhone PC Suite to create ringtones.

Another easy way since itunes 8 wont let this trick happen is use
audiko dot net

Thanks Hermanson! I am using it right now.

Sweet! I've been doing the extra 99 cent purchase for songs that I already have in ITunes. Thought it was kind of silly to have to pay twice for the same thing. Thanks a ton!

Any sites for Xmas New tear tonedownloads ....Got a whole load of drab tones on my phone!