Lol that's some ultramodern stuff. I remember typing ringtones on a nokia:

Then I had a sonyericsson where you could create polyphonic midi ringtones from building blocks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-INh-VaP2oc

Apparently this was called "MusicDJ" it has a web based clone: https://pattlebass.itch.io/musicdj

I still don't know how to get custom ringtones without paying.

Place an audio file that your phone understands somewhere on the phone's file system. Common examples would be mp3 or wav. I usually make this transfer over USB, but there are a few ways depending on your phone. Then, on Android, locate your ringtone settings; on Graphene this is under "Settings" then "Sound & Vibration" and I think it's the same on stock Androids. Once in the ringtone settings, scroll to the bottom of the menu and tap "add ringtone." Find where you saved your audio file and add it, then select it from the ringtone menu. This should now be your custom ringtone. You can make similar changes for other kinds of notification sounds as well.

All of the above is for Androids. Probably the process is similar on an iPhone, but I haven't touched one in ages so I couldn't say for sure.

Probably the process is similar on an iPhone, but I haven’t touched one in ages so I couldn’t say for sure.

I bet it involves installing some bullshit propriety software so you can have the privilege of looking inside your own property.

Nah, on iPhones you need to make the ringtone file using garage band, which I’m pretty sure you can only really do on a Mac or by paying for some license for transferring on windows/linux maybe? Or you need to pay for it through iTunes or another paid app. I genuinely haven’t found a way to do it without paying yet (don’t have a Mac and transfers to and from windows/linux are awful), and I’ve looked long and hard as my custom notifications were important to me..

If someone can tell me otherwise, I’m all ears tho.

Got to help someone with a ringtone on an iPhone. Took an hour to figure out.

Basically, you install garage band the music editor, put drums into an empty song so that it counts as complex enough to be exported as ringtone but make all possible volume sliders as low as possible, then grab your actual music file and put it in as vocals, hit export and there should be a ringtone option there.

That does seem very plausible. I was going to guess iTunes, but I don't even know if that's still around and don't really care to look to Apple products today.

I don't personally have an answer, but good luck to you!

Well that sounds completely reasonable.

I fucking knew it.

Remember ring back tones? I really wanted to hear your shitty music when I call.

Garage band is free and you can do it right on an iPhone. I’ve made several ringtones and text tones from mp3s this way.

You shouldn’t need to put the drums into the track. You can add just the music file. I’ve done this before.

Is that new as of 18? I’m not updated to 18, but when I was looking into it it couldn’t be done from the phone.

Said it's not complex enough for me

https://support.apple.com/en-us/120692

But it’s even simpler in iOS 26: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-set-custom-iphone-ringtone/

I did this on an iPhone 4 over a decade ago. I don’t think I’ve actually had an audible ringtone since.

It’s a little odd, but you have to import the audio in a very specific way otherwise you get that error.

1. Create a new project
2. In the “Tracks” tab select “Audio Recorder”
3. In the top left, click the icon that kinda looks like a brick wall
4. In the top right, click the icon that looks like a loop
5. Find your audio file and then click and hold it
6. Drag the file onto the only audio track in the project
7. Click the down arrow at the top far left and then “My Songs” to save and exit
8. Tap and hold on the song you created and then tap “Share”

You should be able to export as a ringtone then.

Someone also posted that you can directly export a song less than 30 seconds from the files app in iOS 26, completely removing the need for GarageBand.

Hah, the Sony Ericsson one was fun, even though I never created anything decent.

I know someone who still had one and yes, she’s as annoying as she sounds.

I was so happy when we started being able to drop mp3s into place. On one phone, I recorded friends' voices and set those as individual ringtones. "Heyy. Pick up the phone! Pick up the phooone."