2

I have a very simple question about custom alert tones on iPhones, which there doesn't seem to be any good Google hits for:

Is there any possible way whatsoever to install your own custom "alert tone" / notification signals (not ringtones!) on an iPhone?

And when I say "your own custom", I do not mean purchasing alert tones from the Apple store, but rather, importing them from whatever audio you have in your iTunes library, or somewhere else.

There are a lot of apps for making custom ringtones (including Garageband), but none of them seem to be able to save these as "alert tones" (notification tones) in iOS, but rather just ringtones.

The problem with this is that most other apps that allow you to customize their notification sounds (e.g. Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp etc), only allow you to choose from the "alert tones" list in iOS, rather than the "ringtones" list, which makes this distinction critical indeed.

There a lots and lots of tutorials and apps online that claim to be able to install custom alert tones / notification tones, but every single one that I have found end up installing a custom "ringtone" after all. :-(

If the answer to my question is "no", an extra bonus question would be: Why on earth would Apple lock down such a feature?

Improve this question

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

You can do this, but Apple has made it difficult.

Method one requires that you install iTunes on a Windows computer. (I presume that there's a way to do this with an Apple computer as well, but it would probably be different because iTunes no longer exists as a discrete application for MacOS.) See https://www.howtogeek.com/248489/how-to-add-custom-ringtones-to-your-iphone/

Method two requires that you install GarageBand on your iPhone. You can either create a ringtone in GarageBand, or import an audio clip from the Files app, and then use the Share function to export it as a ringtonge. See https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-make-ringtone-garageband/

Improve this answer
0

This is in response to mc510's answer

Every single YouTube video I have seen is exactly the same......it ends up creating a "ringtone" never ever EVER an "alert tone"

When selecting tones for things like Telegram the only options it gives you the default "alert tones" (and I think possibly tones you download through that tone store option) but it won't list ANY ring tones, whether your own creation or not

The OP is asking how to create a "alert tone" they are quite different and I concur with his frustration

Improve this answer
0
-2

i'm very surprised as well, nobody seems to notice this was possible on Android but not on iOS, for YEARS! Ok i will add a detail that will blow your mind even more... On the Signal app on iOS, is possible to set your own custom notification sound, different for every single contact. Apparently Whatsapp and Telegram developers have no excuses

Improve this answer
2
  • How does this help someone make a custom alert on iOS?
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Feb 4, 2022 at 1:40
  • it's just a suggestion that using Signal app custom alert is altready possible
    – Mark
    Commented Mar 14, 2022 at 11:09

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .