Simple hackery enables free iTunes ringtones
By Sean Cooper 
posted Sep 7th 2007 11:35AM
posted Sep 7th 2007 11:35AM
Well, this is a handy (and well-timed) find! User Cleverboy over at Macrumors has discovered a simple trick to get your own music onto your iPhone using the just-released iTunes 7.4, and it'll cost you precisely nothing. To get this to work, we hear you only need to rename an AAC track to .M4R, then double click it and iTunes will automagically load it into iTunes for you. Next time you plug in your iPhone to sync up, just check off the song in the Ringtones tab and voila, instant tone gratification. Thanks, Apple -- free ringtones for the songs we already own or ripped from our own CDs, this is how it should have been from the get-go. On a happy note, Macrumor's forum users are reporting the magic works via both Apple and Windows flavors of iTunes, but feel free let us know how you all get on.
Clever boy just made my day !!!
Thanks for this great and useful tip ;-)
that is a great trick... im glad i dont have to pay $2 for a ringtone
wow i think AT&T is going to be pissed. As much as this is awesome for users, there goes a nice chunk of revenue for the phone co.
Where did you read that AT&T got a piece of the ringtone revenue?
There's a reason why at&t's going rate for a ringtone is $2.49...
Your right it's an assumption, but based on the current ringtone business model I think its probably valid.
Nice.
Nice! At least we get free ringtones until Apple figures out how to block it in their next update.
Which is all you need, really. Unless Apple can reach into the phone and have all the ringtones you've made for yourself BALEETED
Hrm, this seems kinda illegal....
Be careful you guys, Jobs'll find out about this because he *is* God, you know *strucked by lightening*, he'll probably, like, take away your $100 refund or something like that.
so do it after you get your $100 refund.. lol
I tried this and it did not work for me. I took one m4a, duped it, changed the file extension and added to iTunes (3 different ways), at no time did my iphone seem to recognize that I had any ringtones. Secondarily, when I added it to itunes, the file extension automatically got lopped off.
I'm calling BS, or inadequate instructions (at endgadget)
MacBook Pro, iTunes 7.4
Update - not QUITE as simple as it sounds. Changing the file extension isn't hard, but there are more explicit instructions on how to get the extension to 'stick' on the macrumors forum site - link here: http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2007/09/07/free-custom-ringtones-in-itunes-7-4/
Inadequate instructions on endgadget site.
It's just so sad that there are devices that need news like this. "Wanna change your ringtone? Just a little hack!" Pathetic.
i use www.create-ringtone.com to make and send custom ringtones, wallpapers, MP3's and Videos for FREE to cell phones around the world