Ringtone maker
Pick a clip from your audio file and get a ringtone ready to install: .m4r for iPhone, .mp3 for Android. No file is uploaded.
Drop your audio file here
or click to browse — MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC, OGG, Opus, WebM
Everything about making a custom ringtone
Why does the format depend on the phone?
A ringtone is not just any audio file: each operating system sets its own rules. iOS only accepts the .m4r format, which is really AAC inside an MP4 container, and Apple caps custom ringtones at 30 seconds. Android, by contrast, plays any audio file the system supports and imposes no length limit: MP3 is the safest choice there, because no device refuses it.
That is why the tool asks which phone you are targeting before generating anything. The choice does not just change the file extension: it changes the codec, the container and the maximum length allowed.
All processing happens in your browser, using the Web Audio API for decoding and a client-side encoder for the output. Your track is never uploaded, stored or analysed on a server.
Common use cases
- Personalising your phone
- Cut the chorus from a track you own and make it your call ringtone, instead of the tones shipped with the device.
- Telling contacts apart
- Create several short clips and assign one to each person close to you, so you know who is calling without looking at the screen.
- Notifications and alarms
- A two- to three-second clip with a fade out makes a discreet notification; a longer passage suits an alarm better.
- Creators and podcasters
- Turn your jingle or theme into a ringtone you can hand out to your audience, in both formats.
How to make a ringtone
Drop in your audio file, then say whether the ringtone is for an iPhone or an Android phone. The maximum length adjusts automatically.
On the waveform, drag to choose the clip, or move the green and red markers. Play the selection back to check that it starts and ends in the right place.
Adjust the fade in and fade out, generate the ringtone, download it, then follow the install instructions shown under the result.
Frequently asked questions
- How long can a ringtone be?
- On iPhone, Apple caps custom ringtones at 30 seconds: the tool applies that limit automatically and shortens the selection if needed. On Android the system imposes no length, but 20 to 30 seconds is enough in practice, since the call goes to voicemail before it ends.
- What exactly is a .m4r file?
- It is an AAC audio file in an MP4 container, identical to a .m4a apart from the extension. iOS uses that extension to tell a ringtone apart from a music track. It is also why renaming an MP3 to .m4r does not work: the contents really have to be AAC.
- Why is the .m4r format unavailable in my browser?
- Producing a .m4r relies on the WebCodecs API and its AAC encoder, present in Chrome, Edge and Safari but not in every browser. When the encoder is missing, the tool says so and disables the option rather than producing a file your iPhone would reject. The Android format stays available either way.
- What are the fades for?
- A clip cut mid-note produces a very audible click at the start and end of the loop. A few tenths of a second of fade in and about a second of fade out are enough to remove it, and make the repeating ringtone far less harsh.
- Is my file sent to a server?
- No. Decoding, trimming and encoding all happen inside your browser, on your device. No file, clip or metadata is transmitted or kept.
- Can I make a ringtone from any music?
- Technically the tool accepts any file your browser can decode. Legally, a protected work is still covered by copyright: keep this to files you own, your own creations, or freely licensed tracks. Tracks from a streaming service are also encrypted and cannot be exported.
Understanding ringtone formats
Why do iOS and Android work differently?
Android treats a ringtone as an ordinary media file: dropping it in the right place in storage is enough for the system to offer it. iOS instead separates ringtones from the music library and stores them in a dedicated area, filled by syncing with a computer or by GarageBand. That separation explains both the specific extension and the length limit.
What is the difference between AAC and MP3 for a ringtone?
Both are lossy codecs. At an equal bitrate, AAC generally reproduces high frequencies better, which shows most on short, heavily compressed clips. Over the length of a ringtone and through a phone speaker, though, the difference stays marginal: here the choice is dictated by the operating system, not by quality.
Should you normalise a ringtone's volume?
Almost always. A clip taken from a quiet passage of a track will sound much softer than the factory ringtones, and risks being missed in a noisy place. Normalising brings the signal's peak just under the maximum, which lines the perceived level up with other ringtones without introducing clipping.