iTunes Ringtone Hacking, a.k.a. how to convert your songs into ringtones for free

by James Allan Brady on September 7, 2007





Vote This Post DownVote This Post Up
+15 rating, 19 votes)
Loading ... Loading ...


So shortly before the big Apple event a couple days ago there was a company that released the program iToner for $15, with this program you could turn any of your songs into ringtones for your iPhone. Then the big Apple event came and Apple announced this feature would be built into the new version of iTunes but would cost $.99.

itunes ringtone hack

Now someone else has come along and informed us that by simply changing the file extension of the files you can make any .AAC track into a ringtone. This operation doesn’t even require any software you just edit the file and change the extension to .M4R.

After that all you have to do is import it into your iTunes library and then sync your iPod. So you have two solutions that cost money, iTunes and iToner or you have this method that’s completely free, which do you choose?

Hacking iTunes – Get your ringtones for free [via SlashGear]

  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Live
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • SphereIt
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • TailRank
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • E-mail this story to a friend!

{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Lisa 09.07.07 at 2:53 pm

Can we do this yet? Or do we have to wait until next week? When I plug in my iPhone I don’t see anything new except the new Ringtones tab. Maybe I just don’t have any songs that are ringtone compatible yet? Hmmm…

2 James Allan Brady 09.07.07 at 3:03 pm

you should be able to, all you have to do is change the file extension, import it into itunes, and it should automatically sync with you iPhone

3 Cody 09.07.07 at 4:49 pm

I got the file extension changed, but I cant seem to get the songs to Import into itunes… Any suggestions??

4 james 09.07.07 at 8:17 pm

i think it says to click on it and open it and then i think it auto imports

5 Cody 09.07.07 at 8:24 pm

Na, I figured it out. I had to change the .mp3 to .aac with itunes first then change the .m4a to .m4r. Once I did that, then I double clicked it, and presto, ringtones for my iPhone…

6 Scott 09.07.07 at 9:25 pm

Can anyone explain how to change the .mp3 to .aac and how to change the .m4a to .m4r? Is it done in itunes?

7 Lisa 09.07.07 at 9:55 pm

Yes, step by step please???

8 James Allan Brady 09.08.07 at 11:45 am

http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2007/09/07/free-custom-ringtones-in-itunes-7-4/

is the link for the full step by step instructions

9 Scott 09.11.07 at 3:39 pm

So I was able to change the file extension and the songs I did showed up fine in the ringtones section on itunes, but only one of the four songs would sync to my iphone, the other three said these songs couldnt be sync to this iphone. Any ideas why? Has anyone else had this problem?

10 ziad 09.12.07 at 10:09 pm

had same problem as Scott, I see the ringtones in my ringtones folder on Itunem, byt when Syncyng it says “cannot be played by this Iphone” I think the problem is that i upgraded to Itune 7.4.1

11 Cody 09.16.07 at 10:00 pm

Has anyone noticed if there ringtones still work after the update to iTunes 7.4.1??

12 judith Meyer 09.17.07 at 12:57 am

Hi mine does not. I need to go to apple as att could not find a reason

13 joey 09.29.07 at 1:21 am

how do you change the extention on the mp3 song i cant find where to do it from can anyone help???????????? thankyou

14 stephen 10.05.07 at 2:21 pm

this does NOT work

15 stacy 10.17.07 at 11:54 pm

i changed to aac file../ then changed it to m4r… then double clicked.. and nothin.. could not get it into the ringtones section of itunes……. why not???

16 alex 10.23.07 at 9:10 am

how to change to aac file and then change it to m4r and how to put it in the ringtone section?

17 justin 10.25.07 at 11:34 am

can you get these ringtones on a razor not just on an iphone

18 Clau 10.28.07 at 10:21 am

Hi! I have already my file in m4a and I would like to convert this to m4r….how can I do this….. if I have itunes 7.4.3.1
Thanks

19 lester 10.30.07 at 1:54 am

Hi! I have already my file in m4a and I would like to convert this to m4r….how can I do this….. if I have itunes 7.4.3.1
Thanks

20 jose 05.19.08 at 4:43 pm

how could i change the extension from m4a to m4r…my computer doesnt let me do it

21 Bana 05.26.08 at 9:09 am

Hey there is Sth that you wrote that i completelu don’t understand look this is what s written:Now someone else has come along and informed us that by simply changing the file extension of the files you can make any .AAC track into a ringtone. This operation doesn’t even require any software you just edit the file and change the extension to .M4R

How can i change it into a .M4R?i rlly don’t undersand P.S. I use Windows Vista

THX

22 Casey 06.01.08 at 11:29 pm

Hi,

I am using itunes 7.6.2.9 and i dont know how to convert my ACC files into M4R. Can anyone help me with this ? Thank you.

Casey

23 Idol Ringtone 06.02.08 at 4:40 am

Works very well for me!

perfect!

24 gluboy 06.07.08 at 1:03 am

i did change the file extension in windows vista. Then i copy the ringtone in iphone thru winscp. I saw the file in ringtones. I was also able to set the file as my ringtone but no sound. I guess i need to get convertor to create m4r files.

25 Rose 07.08.08 at 6:57 am

hey check this “How to: 8 ways to get Ringtones onto your IPhone” here:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/how-to-8-ways-to-get-ringtones-onto-your-iphone-298649.php

hope it helps…

26 Lauren 07.19.08 at 8:06 am

Hello, I’m in desperate need of help here. I’ve read all of your replys back to eachother and i still have yet to figure out how to change my music into ringtones. If someone could just post some directions that thoroughly explain the steps that would help a lot. Thanks in advance!

27 speedgreen 08.04.08 at 12:34 pm

juicy bag vacant deliver speed site white no

Fill in the required fields below to leave a comment or login to your account. If you haven't signed up, you can do so free here. With iPhone Buzz account, you will be able to participate on iPhone Buzz Forums discussion.

Leave a Comment

You can use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>