How to change your iPhone ringtone or set a song

Change a tone that is already installed

Open Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone. Tap a name to preview and select it. You do not need to download an app to switch between the sounds already in that list. If you meant Android, use the Android ringtone instructions.

Make a song your ringtone

A song in your music library does not automatically appear in the ringtone list. Start with a downloaded, unprotected song or a recording you made. For Apple’s documented on-phone route, import it into GarageBand, choose a section up to 30 seconds long and export a ringtone. Our step-by-step GarageBand guide covers the import and export. Subscription songs that remain protected cannot be used this way.

If you bought a tone rather than a full song, follow the iTunes Store tone guide. If you already have a ready-to-use audio file, check the options without another app.

Does this work on iPhone 11 or iPhone 16?

Use the same ringtone setting on either model. For importing a new file, check Settings → General → About → iOS Version and the editor’s compatibility requirements. The model name alone does not tell you whether a particular share-sheet action or current app version is available. If an older phone cannot run the required editor, start with its installed tones and the older-iPhone guide.

Start with a sound in Ringy

If you followed a Ringy share link, note the complete title, including the remix or speed label. Open that sound in Ringy; if installation takes you to the app’s home screen, search the exact title. For your own recording, use Ringy’s available audio or video import and choose a short section.

Some older share-page titles differ from the current app catalogue. If the page shows a Name in Ringy field, use that name when searching in the app. The original share URL still identifies the same entry.

Before exporting, preview the beginning and end inside the app. Avoid silence before the first sound. Keep a recognizable, short phrase rather than a whole song. Give the result a name you can recognize later in the system picker.

Finish the export

1. In Ringy, open the tone and choose Use as Ringtone. Complete any access step the app presents.
2. Follow the system sharing instructions. On a supported system, choose Use as Ringtone in the share sheet if it is offered.
3. If that system action is absent, use the GarageBand export method with a saved, unprotected audio file. Do not repeatedly purchase the sound to make an OS action appear.

Confirm the selection

Open Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone and select the exported name. Then ask someone to call you. Hearing a preview inside Ringy proves playback works; it does not prove that incoming calls use that tone.

A particular contact may have a separate ringtone. Text messages and alarms also have separate selectors. If only one kind of alert still uses the old sound, change the setting for that alert instead of exporting again.

Related guides

• Why is Use as Ringtone missing?
• Set a different ringtone for one contact
• Ringtones, text tones and alarms: which setting changes what?
• How to set a ringtone from the iTunes Store
• Free ringtones for iPhone and Android: what are your options?