How to set a song as an iPhone ringtone (without iTunes)

In this mini guide we will explain how to set a song as your iPhone ringtone, even without going through iTunes

The iPhone ringtone has practically become a symbol of the modern smartphone revolution. Everyone now knows how to recognize the iconic trill. But maybe it's also starting to go out of fashion in favor of the old habit of using our favorite songs. Of course, Apple allows you to use an MP3 file as a custom ringtone on your iPhone. Let's see how to do it!

Set a song as an iPhone ringtone by switching from iTunes

ITunes software was born to organize multimedia files within Apple devices. It was initially presented for the purchase of music, however as it passed, it also allowed the purchase of films and other multimedia content. Today, the multimedia content features have been separated into several specific applications on Apple devices. While iTunes became a tool to synchronize and transfer files from PC to mobile devices and vice versa. Reason why in the latest generation MacOS devices it will not be possible to manage MP3 files. No problem for Windows PCs. However, let's see how to do it, step by step:

Preparing the audio file

1. 1. Open iTunes and connect the iPhone.
   2. Add MP3 to iTunes media library.
   3. Right click on the song and choose "Get Info".
   4. Click on the "Options" tab.
   5. Set start and end times to customize the length of the ringtone
   6. Click "OK".

Convert MP3 to AAC and transfer to iPhone

1. Click again on the file that contains the song.
2. Choose “Create AAC Version”.
3. iTunes will convert the specified song segment into a new song.
4. Drag the new AAC version out of iTunes and into a folder of your choice.
5. Delete the 30 second version from iTunes.
6. Open the folder containing the 30-second AAC file previously extracted from iTunes
7. Right click and choose “Rename” to change the file extension from .m4a to .m4r and confirm.
8. Double click on it and it will be added to the iTunes ringtone library.
9. Synchronize the iPhone.
10. Now you can access the iPhone settings and set the song as a ringtone.

A procedure a bit cumbersome, don't you think? Among other things, as already mentioned, in the latest versions of iTunes for MacOS this operation is no longer possible. Fortunately, there are alternatives to get free ringtones for iPhone.

Set a song as an iPhone ringtone, without iTunes

Passing files to iTunes seems almost an essential step to be able to enter files inside an iPhone. In reality this is not the case. Applications like AnyTrans allow you to set any song as your iPhone ringtone in a simple and intuitive way. AnyTrans basically allows you to do the various steps that were foreseen in iTunes almost automatically. We will be able to automatically convert an MP3 file as m4r format which is the only format accepted by iPhone for ringtones. Among other things, AnyTrans also allows you to manage other formats such as WMA, WAW or FLAC. So practically any audio file can be turned into iPhone ringtone.

Let's see how to do it:

1. Download and install the AnyTrans app on our PC
2. Launch the app and connect your iPhone via USB
3. Choose “Ringtone Maker” from the features panel on the left
4. At this point we can drag the file directly into the app or select it from the PC, iTunes or other devices
5. Once the file is open, we can set the duration of the ringtone by cutting the open song. When the result satisfies us, just click on "Import to device" to transfer the ringtone to iPhone.
6. Now the custom ringtone will be available in the iPhone list.

Molto simpler no? AnyTrans graphical interface is really great and easy to use. Surely it is one of the simplest methods to set a song as an iPhone ringtone. From the mobile devices section it's all, keep following us!