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I have successfully added a tone to my iPhone 7, as explained in this Apple Communities discussion.

However it is getting added as a “ringtone” rather than as an “alert tone.”

How can I change it to an Alert Tone? It’s barely 1-second long. When syncing or creating the .m4r file, there is no option to select the type as either Ringtone or Alert Tone.

The reason I need this is to add a custom notification for a WhatsApp contact. WhatsApp only allows me to choose from Alert Tones.

So the way I see it there are two options:

  1. Ask WhatsApp to allow to choose from Ringtones.
  2. Add my own Alert Tone.

I am exploring option 2 here, because WhatsApp support isn’t being very helpful.

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  • Does it really matter, when you can choose any ringtone as an alert anyway?
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Oct 22, 2016 at 19:09
  • 3
    actually, i am trying to add custom notification for a whatsapp contact. Whatsapp 'Customization Notification" option allows to choose from alert tones only. so there are two options, 1) ask whatsapp to allow to choose a ringtone 2) be able to add my own alert tone. i am exploring option 2 here. for option 1, already sent mail to whatsapp support. they are not helping.
    – weima
    Commented Oct 22, 2016 at 19:12
  • I've never used WhatsApp, so I've no clue how it works, sorry
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Oct 22, 2016 at 19:13
  • This info would be better added to the original question, to save people asking the obvious first... as seems to have already happened... :/
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Oct 22, 2016 at 19:15
  • Im on the same boat as the OP. Exactly the same for Whatsapp
    – Bernardo Mosquea
    Commented Sep 1, 2017 at 3:01

1 Answer 1

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As of iOS 11 it is not possible to create custom Alert Tones, only custom Ringtones. iTunes itself only makes one Media Kind available for them: Ringtone. That cannot be changed.

You can assign both Ringtones and Alert Tones to any event under Settings → Sounds & Haptics on your iOS device.

As far as app-specific limitations are concerned, you’ll have to take it up to the developers of such apps, in this case WhatsApp. I doubt Apple will add that functionality, since it makes no difference to iOS itself.

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  • i have given the reason in the comment in the question
    – weima
    Commented Oct 22, 2016 at 19:14
  • somewhere i read that the duration of the tone matters, if the duration is less, it can be added as alert tone
    – weima
    Commented Oct 22, 2016 at 19:19
  • is there a work-around to copy a tone to some folder so that apps can see it as alert tone
    – weima
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 8:47
  • 2
    No, there isn't. iTunes isn't even aware of Alert Tones, just Ringtones.
    – user11633
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 5:07

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