Filed under: iPhone, App Review
Ringtones for iPhone dead easy with this Mac app
There are a lot of ways to get ringtones on an iPhone. Some are easy. Some not so easy. Some are free. Some cost money.A new release of PocketMac Ringtone Studio is about the easiest way to get ringtones on your phone, but it is not the cheapest. I think many users will be glad to buy the app, though, in exchange for the extreme ease of use.
Essentially, you drag and drop any MP3, AAC, M4A or a Quicktime movie file onto the app, highlight the part of the waveform you want, decide if you want to fade in and/or out, and Ringtone Studio will open iTunes if it isn't already open and put the file in the ringtones bin. That's it.
You can boost or lower the volume of any clip, and you can zoom in or out of the waveform for precise editing. Note: There is no onscreen button letting you know you can zoom. It's in the built in help files. You use Command-+ or Command-minus.
The only other thing I would like to see is the ability to rename your ringtone before sending it to iTunes. You can certainly rename it there, but doing it in the Ringtone Studio app would be perfect.
As I said, there are a lot of ways to do ringtones. You can buy them from the Apple, or use GarageBand, but I find the process has far too many steps. One favorite of mine is the Audiko website, which allows you to upload your clips, edit them online, and then download them and drag them into iTunes. It's free, and does the job.
Version 2 of Ringtone Studio is US$29.95 and has a 90 day money back guarantee. You can see some videos of how it works on the PocketMac website.
I think the app is a bit pricey for what it does, doubling in price since we first reviewed it, but it is very powerful and very easy to use. I think a lot of people will find it a perfect solution. Early buyers can get a free iPhone case. Ringtone Studio works with all iPhones, including phones running iPhone OS 3.0 and the new iPhone 3GS. The software requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or above.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
QizMYname said 3:46PM on 7-16-2009
I have a MAC and I use GarageBand to make my own ringtones from just about any track in my mac. To get things just right and on point, i think fat fingers will make things harder.
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WS said 4:07PM on 7-16-2009
Not to mention that this program costs nearly half of the iLife entire suite. Ridiculous... totally overpriced for just making stupid ringtones...
Mike said 8:26PM on 7-16-2009
This is a Mac app too, not an iPhone app (no fingers).
But I agree, this is no easier than using GarageBand so I fail to see the value or praise given here.
oliver hart said 7:43PM on 7-16-2009
i find garage band even too time consuming to make ringtones. iTunes-options-start/stop-aac-delete-rename-open. I'm shocked that people still pay a penny for ANYTHING related to ringtones for the iPhone.
QizMYname said 12:20AM on 7-17-2009
I use my 3GS voice memos and send them to my email. I can then import the track to the GB on my mac and make a ringtone of just about anything from PEANUTBUTTER JELLY THEME to my son saying I LOVE YOU DADDY. It's all about how you want to do it and the time you feel doing it.
Manu said 5:33AM on 7-17-2009
Using iTunes is even simpler though you don't get as many options as in GarageBand.
http://www.manu-j.com/blog/create-custom-free-iphone-ringtones-itunes/162/
Matt said 3:54PM on 7-16-2009
I prefer Ringer:
http://pixelresearchlabs.com/ringer
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cyclingplatypus said 3:56PM on 7-16-2009
I don't understand stand alone pay ringtone creation apps...GarageBand makes it so easy, under $5 or donationware sure but $30 for an app that does what you can do already in your iLife suite?
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ben said 3:57PM on 7-16-2009
You could also use Audacity, which is FOSS and pretty easy to use.
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Shaylin said 3:59PM on 7-16-2009
I make mine using Audacity, which is free (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), and pretty easy to use.
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Steven said 3:59PM on 7-16-2009
I'm not sure why anyone buys these when a couple more steps in garagband(but still an easy process) saves you 30 bucks. There are also ways of doing this without garageband for free. What a waste of money.
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mad matt said 7:12PM on 7-16-2009
im not sure why anyone makes their own ringtones when there's sites like
http://www.audiko.net
that have a LOT of ringtones available in ringtone format...
i love it, and use it allll the time
PS im not affiliated or anything, i just think people should know about it..
Yoshi1080 said 4:04PM on 7-16-2009
I don't see the point in installing additional single-purpose softwares for basic things that can easily be done in more powerful softwares. I use Garageband for ringtones (not that I would often need new ones). Of course I could use five different, simpler softwares for everything that Garageband is capable of instead. But then I would have to deal with five different UIs, five different update cycles, probably an inefficient workflow and, judging from this programs price point, I would most likely have to spend even more than for the much more powerful iLife. It would be kind of different if this was a free widget.
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Marco said 4:10PM on 7-16-2009
A good way to spend money on something that can be done yourself.
- convert a song to m4a (AAC)
- copy to a temp folder
- remove the file from iTunes
- rename the converted song to m4r
- copy back to iTunes
done. I haven't found any limit on duration either although it's quite possible that too long ringtones just don't get synced, haven't tried (don't care much about ringtones, only have a few that I use always)
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TACH said 11:50PM on 7-16-2009
DING DING WINNER!!! Why even use Garage Band...
Bonnie said 1:29AM on 7-17-2009
This is how I've always done it minus several steps.
I don't even bother creating the 30-sec ringtone, moving it and deleting it off iTunes, changing the extension and moving it back.
Just get them off straight off www.zedge.net and drag into iTunes.
KyleW said 4:10PM on 7-16-2009
I use MP3 Trimmer (http://deepniner.net/mp3trimmer/) to trim my MP3s and then use iTunes to convert the clip to AAC, drag onto the desktop (m4a file), rename to .m4r, and double click that to make iTunes add it to my ringtone selection. Not quite as easy, but it works and is free.
I just need to man up and pay the $11 for MP3 Trimmer. It works forever but has these wait screens that get removed once you buy a license.
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clint Johnson said 7:06PM on 7-16-2009
I second MP3 Trimmer. Easy as hell and cheap. Free if you don't mind the wait screens. Even lets you add little fade ins and outs to your ringtones. Nice.
Steve said 4:18PM on 7-16-2009
I don't get how this is any different from GarageBand in number of steps. Drag the song in. Use the little yellow loop bar to select a part of the song. Zoom in as needed to precisely select. Click "Share as RIngtone." Done. It even tells you if it's over the 40 second limit.
I don't get why that's difficult really, even if this other software was free.
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Mel said 4:21PM on 7-16-2009
Why not use www.audiko.net?
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