HOW TO: Custom SMS Tones - UPDATED FOR IOS 5.0
UPDATE OCT 17 2011
IOS 5 UPDATE
ADDED UNRESTRICTED RINGTONES SECTION - Unrestricted means no length limit, and no size limit
ADDED IOS 5.0 NOTIFICATION - Good news everybody (Say it like Professor Farnsworth)
---------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone, another guide by me - this time, its how to change your default SMS tones, to anything you want!
Now, you'll need a few programs to get started:
1. Audacity
2. iTunes 9.0+
3. winSCP
4. Jailbroken 3.0+ and openSSH installed
---------------------------------------------------
First, you need to make your SMS tones. Use Audacity to trim your SMS tones to 5 seconds or less. You can make them longer, but do you really want a 30 second clip playing every text message you get? I recommend 2 seconds or less.
Once you've trimmed and made your tones, export them as an MP3, and import them into iTunes.
In iTunes, open up your preferences, and change the "Import Settings" and change it to the AIFF standard. Any Quality setting is fine.
Right click your songs in iTunes, and click "Create AIFF version". Delete the MP3 version (to keep things organized). Your AIFF file will be located in the iTunes media folder.
In Windows Explorer, enable "Show Extensions for known file types", and change the AIF extension to CAF.
Rename the file to sms-received2. You can have a maximum of 5 custom SMS Tones. DO NOT replace the 1st file (sms-received1.caf) which is tri-tone. DO NOT attempt to add an additional sms tone such as sms-received7.caf or higher, as it will cause your phone to restart indefinitely.
Once you're all done with the above, open up winSCP (or whatever program you use to SSH into the phone), and browse to the root directory of your phone. Then from there, go to System / Library / Audio / UISounds.
Copy and paste your CAF files over and over-write the ones there. Backup if you deem necessary, but any software restore will restore these files. No need to restart or respring as your new sound clips are ready to go.
There is no way to rename these files, they will still say "Horn" and what not.
Enjoy everyone! Hope this guide helps you!
---------------------------------------------------
UNRESTRICTED RINGTONES
First off, when you create a ringtone and sync it with iTunes, it has to pass 3 specific criteria in order to be synced to the device.
1st) Is it the proper extension (.m4r)
2nd) Is it less than 30 seconds in length
3rd) Is it under 1MB in file size
If any of the above come back with a "NO" answer, then it's added to your library, but NOT SYNCED TO YOUR DEVICE.
Time to bypass the 2nd and 3rd steps - with a very simple, very easy SFTP upload!
First, make your ringtone. It's pretty much the same as the custom SMS ringtone guide above, but have iTunes convert it to a M4A file, and rename it to M4R Extension. That's how you make a ringtone. Now, to sync it to your device without having to worry about if its over 30 seconds or larger than 1MB.
All you need to do, is drag and drop the M4R files into the following directory, when logged in under root.
or
Once you've uploaded them, you may have to restart your phone in order to see them listed under the custom ringtone section in your settings app. I personally didn't, but some friends of mine who did this reported to me that they had to restart.
---------------------------------------------------
IOS 5 SOFTWARE AND WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU
Good news everybody! I've discovered a way to make you realize that you're talking in Professor Farnsworth's voice in your head!
Also, I've discovered that Apple and iTunes decided to remove the "Restrictions" in place for iOS4.x and allow custom SMS ringtones. The problem is, it still checks for a few things:
1. Is it an M4R file type
2. Is it under 5 seconds
3. Is it under 250kb
If any of those are untrue, it will assume it's a ringtone, and not be selectable from the SMS Tone menu.
Trim, compress and otherwise modify those short ringers for your SMS tones, and then sync with iTunes.
NO JAILBREAK REQUIRED FOR THIS, ONLY IOS 5
Again, Enjoy! Have fun - any problems, questions or comments, let me know!
UPDATE OCT 17 2011
IOS 5 UPDATE
ADDED UNRESTRICTED RINGTONES SECTION - Unrestricted means no length limit, and no size limit
ADDED IOS 5.0 NOTIFICATION - Good news everybody (Say it like Professor Farnsworth)
---------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone, another guide by me - this time, its how to change your default SMS tones, to anything you want!
Now, you'll need a few programs to get started:
1. Audacity
2. iTunes 9.0+
3. winSCP
4. Jailbroken 3.0+ and openSSH installed
---------------------------------------------------
First, you need to make your SMS tones. Use Audacity to trim your SMS tones to 5 seconds or less. You can make them longer, but do you really want a 30 second clip playing every text message you get? I recommend 2 seconds or less.
Once you've trimmed and made your tones, export them as an MP3, and import them into iTunes.
In iTunes, open up your preferences, and change the "Import Settings" and change it to the AIFF standard. Any Quality setting is fine.
Right click your songs in iTunes, and click "Create AIFF version". Delete the MP3 version (to keep things organized). Your AIFF file will be located in the iTunes media folder.
In Windows Explorer, enable "Show Extensions for known file types", and change the AIF extension to CAF.
Rename the file to sms-received2. You can have a maximum of 5 custom SMS Tones. DO NOT replace the 1st file (sms-received1.caf) which is tri-tone. DO NOT attempt to add an additional sms tone such as sms-received7.caf or higher, as it will cause your phone to restart indefinitely.
Once you're all done with the above, open up winSCP (or whatever program you use to SSH into the phone), and browse to the root directory of your phone. Then from there, go to System / Library / Audio / UISounds.
Copy and paste your CAF files over and over-write the ones there. Backup if you deem necessary, but any software restore will restore these files. No need to restart or respring as your new sound clips are ready to go.
There is no way to rename these files, they will still say "Horn" and what not.
Enjoy everyone! Hope this guide helps you!
---------------------------------------------------
UNRESTRICTED RINGTONES
First off, when you create a ringtone and sync it with iTunes, it has to pass 3 specific criteria in order to be synced to the device.
1st) Is it the proper extension (.m4r)
2nd) Is it less than 30 seconds in length
3rd) Is it under 1MB in file size
If any of the above come back with a "NO" answer, then it's added to your library, but NOT SYNCED TO YOUR DEVICE.
Time to bypass the 2nd and 3rd steps - with a very simple, very easy SFTP upload!
First, make your ringtone. It's pretty much the same as the custom SMS ringtone guide above, but have iTunes convert it to a M4A file, and rename it to M4R Extension. That's how you make a ringtone. Now, to sync it to your device without having to worry about if its over 30 seconds or larger than 1MB.
All you need to do, is drag and drop the M4R files into the following directory, when logged in under root.
Code:
private/var/stash/Ringtones
Code:
Library / RingtonesOnce you've uploaded them, you may have to restart your phone in order to see them listed under the custom ringtone section in your settings app. I personally didn't, but some friends of mine who did this reported to me that they had to restart.
---------------------------------------------------
IOS 5 SOFTWARE AND WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU
Good news everybody! I've discovered a way to make you realize that you're talking in Professor Farnsworth's voice in your head!
Also, I've discovered that Apple and iTunes decided to remove the "Restrictions" in place for iOS4.x and allow custom SMS ringtones. The problem is, it still checks for a few things:
1. Is it an M4R file type
2. Is it under 5 seconds
3. Is it under 250kb
If any of those are untrue, it will assume it's a ringtone, and not be selectable from the SMS Tone menu.
Trim, compress and otherwise modify those short ringers for your SMS tones, and then sync with iTunes.
NO JAILBREAK REQUIRED FOR THIS, ONLY IOS 5
Again, Enjoy! Have fun - any problems, questions or comments, let me know!
Last edited:
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