The Curious Case of the 1.1.2 Ringtones

Apple's 1.1.2 iPhone firmware release brought easy custom ringtones back to life. With 1.1.2 you can once again add end-user ringtones to iTunes and, from there, sync them to your iPhone. Did Apple intentionally thwart third party ringtones with its 1.1.1 firmware or not? Is the 1.1.2 reprieve an oversight or fixing an unintentional obstacle? Opinions vary.

Some say that the 1.1.2 ringtone support shows that Apple messed up in its update version control. They think that the 1.1.2 reprieve is accidental, a simple Apple oversight, and one easily corrected. TUAW alum David Chartier disagrees. He says he's talked to developers who suggest that the 1.1.1 was the anomaly--that Apple had not intentionally countered custom ringtones to force iTunes purchases.

Much as I respect David's proposition, I find it hard to write off 1.1.1 as an unintentional consequence. Ringtone policy changes suggest otherwise. 1.1.1 completely altered the way ringtones worked:

Audio files dropped into /Library/Ringtones and /var/root/Library/Ringtones no longer worked.
M4A, MP3 and WAV ringtones no longer worked. The files needed to be M4R, with proper metadata.
Ringtones added to /var/root/Media/iTunes_Control/Ringtones worked in a limited fashion but only when added laboriously to a custom Ringtones.plist file.
You could no longer drop M4R files into your Macintosh or Windows PC's Ringtones folder or the Ringtones part of your iTunes library.

So what does this say about 1.1.2? I think it says that either Apple changed its mind--hard to tell because they don't issue press releases on this kind of decision--or that Apple goofed. 1.1.3 will show us either way. If ringtones go away, or if they stay, we'll have our answer.

Our own Nik Fletcher has a different take. He thinks that Apple intentionally opened the 1.1.2 hole. He feels that it's been left open so that at least Europeans can get some custom ringtones going until the deals with the labels get sorted. A handsets that truly had no custom ringtone stuff would be DOA in Europe. There is, right now, no UK ringtone store or sales in iTunes.

Assuming simple custom ringtones stick around and Apple does not "correct" this issue, the iPhone once again moves closer to the pack. Many cell phones permit third party ringtones, and the iPhone will join their enlightened ranks. If ringtones go away, it's time to think about investing in iToner. When you buy their software, you're not really buying the ability to make custom ringtones, you're purchasing Ambrosia's expertise and their determination to make custom ringtones work with the iPhone so long as its possible. It's an investment in people not technology

Right now, there's simply not enough information out there to predict which way Apple will go. What do you think? Is 1.1.2 the rule or the exception? Let us know in the comments.

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Source: http://brok3n.org/archivesextreme/2007/11/interview_with_1.h…

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Analysis / Opinion iPhone

Apple's 1.1.2 iPhone firmware release brought easy custom ringtones back to life. With 1.1.2 you can once again add end-user ringtones to...

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Caitlin

#18. Great idea! For some reason, that thought has never occurred to me.

November 17 2007 at 3:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Michael Janich

Erica,

thanks for your many great posts. I have a jail-broken
anySIMed 1.0.1 iPhone and would love to upgrade
(some/all) features of 1.1.2 Has anyone attempted that?
What should I do? can I just upgrade some files/features?

THANKS

Michael

November 14 2007 at 1:49 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

billg

@ those with examples of ringtone utility

Thanks. You made some good points.

There is so much non-information and detail in these articles targeting specific users, I just wish the writing were better to fill in the blanks for everyone else that isn't on the same page.

I shouldn't have to scrape through pages of comments to figure out why any of this matters. The whole "Apple HAS / HASN'T released 1.1.2 for the US / ONLY THE UK - DO / DON'T install, but only use THIS installer that DOES / DOES NOT WORK" was confusing enough.

It's so fun for the writers to figure out what is going on after the readers!

November 13 2007 at 10:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

mdorison

The ringtones appear in iTunes but not on the iPhone when I sync it. If anyone knows of a definitive guide to get this working again I would appreciate it.

November 13 2007 at 10:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

brian

Sweet! Now that this is back again, maybe I'll finally get around to making the ringtone I've always wanted. No, I'm not 14--I want to make my own ringtone because...

- I want a ringtone that sounds like a PHONE. (And not a jangly old-fashioned phone.) The included ringtones SUCK! The closest one to reasonable is 'Sonar.'

- I can't believe that a phone as powerful as the iPhone can't make ANY ringtone get louder as it plays! There is ONE ringtone called 'Ascending' (and it, of course, sucks.) EVERY other phone I've had, AFAIK, could make ANY ringtone play at any volume or ascend. Apple really dropped the ball on this one. So: I'm going to make a recording of my old phone ringing and save it as two tones--'phone' and 'phone ascending.'

PS: Apple: why can't we have PROFILES on our $400 phones?!? More than just On, Off, and Silent. How about Meeting, Outdoor, Sleep, etc etc etc?

November 13 2007 at 9:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Karim

billg: LOL

I want a recording of you saying, "You people are really serious about having 10 seconds of crap come out when your iphone rings" so I can use it as a ringtone.

I'd record myself saying it, of course, but am afraid it would not sound annoyed and whiny enough. ;-)

November 13 2007 at 8:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jon Stieglitz

gather around children and let me tell you why Apple has restored ringtone function. Apple is as obsessed with people updating their iphones as I am (probably because of security reasons like the insanely dangerous TIFF exploit) and they know that the only way to do this is to create an incentive for those with jailbroken phones. with 1.1.1 there were lots of little features that made it worth updating but for 1.1.2 there was nothing (unless you really like international keyboards) because they hadn't anticipated the security issues. thus the return of hacked ringtones. now people will upgrade to 1.1.2 and Apple will be happy. it was more than enough to get me to upgrade.

November 13 2007 at 7:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

scruffy

@ billg

i'll go one further than Karl-Franz Marquez in the utility department; my favorite custom ringtone is a clip of silence. there are some contacts that i want to go to voicemail and not even have to hear the phone. or i might want to make the default ringtone silent and only have the phone ring if it's a contact. it would be nice if that functionality were built in but for now a custom ringtone is the only way to go.

November 13 2007 at 6:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

billg

@15 (Karl-Franz Marquez)

Good point. However, you're the first person I've seen mention adding custom, distinct ringtone noises for utility versus clips of audio for entertainment and how it relates to itunes and piracy and Big Media.

November 13 2007 at 6:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

billg

@10 (Abe)

It's not that I do or don't like "marimba", it's that I don't understand why anyone over the age of 16 cares about this.

Maybe I just don't have the same frenzied fascination with hearing 10 seconds of "Party Like a Rockstar" (or Journey, or "Uncle Fucker", or OMG the most hilarious quote from Sex and the City ever) blaring over and over from ten cell phones in a movie theater.

I know it's a futuristic marvel of science and privilege, but how many people have lived their lives without customized ringtones? Is there nothing more interesting for nerds to do with computers? All this time, effort, and hot air could be spent hanging out with friends in the real world or at least finishing Duke Nukem or whatever nerds drool over.

November 13 2007 at 6:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply