Ringback Tones - Apple Shut Out by AT&T?

[SouthernBlendFL]

I received a text from AT&T notifying me that the Christmas Tunes I selected/paid for last year had expired. With the Christmas Season right around the corner I logged onto the site and was quite surprised at the change. Apparently AT&T has their own verision of an App store which to no surprise Apple/IPhone is not a supported device and I can no longer purchase.

I logged into AT&T and did a search on how to access ringback tones for the iPhone 4 and have come to the conclusion that since ringback tones are not a feature of the device, but a feature that the carrier offers - iPhone is being shut out?

Anyone have experience with this or know how to renew/select new ringback tones?

BTW I did call AT&T and both rep's that I spoke to had no idea what a "ringback tone" even was...

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

I received a text from AT&T notifying me that the Christmas Tunes I selected/paid for last year had expired. With the Christmas Season right around the corner I logged onto the site and was quite surprised at the change. Apparently AT&T has their own verision of an App store which to no surprise Apple/IPhone is not a supported device and I can no longer purchase.

I logged into AT&T and did a search on how to access ringback tones for the iPhone 4 and have come to the conclusion that since ringback tones are not a feature of the device, but a feature that the carrier offers - iPhone is being shut out?

Anyone have experience with this or know how to renew/select new ringback tones?

BTW I did call AT&T and both rep's that I spoke to had no idea what a "ringback tone" even was...

Well given you got the message from AT&T and not Apple, the yes, its a feature AT&T offers and is no way controlled or indorsed by Apple.

Was it an official AT&T site or one of those 3rd party sites with malware and such on them? Might be that since AT&T had no idea what a "ringback tone" was. Sure it wasn't just a ring tone?

 

[Alli]

I don't recall AT&T ever offering caller ringtones. I know Verizon does - I hate calling my friends who use them.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

I don't recall AT&T ever offering caller ringtones. I know Verizon does - I hate calling my friends who use them.

I hate ring tones period. I always use generic ones or have it on vibrate.

 

[SouthernBlendFL]

Yes AT&T does(did) offer Ringback Tones although I don't think it was well published. As a former Verizon user I LOVED my ringback tones and once switching to AT&T for the iPhone I seeked and found how to add, so in a nutshell I have had Ringback (and yes that is the correct term!) tones on my phone since the get-go. This is not a free feature as with Ringtones, there is a charge for the tone AND a $1.99 a month for charge for those calling you to hear music instead of the standard ring-ring

I was on the official AT&T site and called the AT&T number on my bill so yes I was on the legit site and speaking to AT&T reps.

I have never had one person/caller tell me that they disliked the music; most the time I have a Christian song playing so maybe thats why

Thanks for yall's comments!

Southern

 

[SouthernBlendFL]

Just got off the phone with my local AT&T rep who has been researching. Yep it looks like AT&T is squeezing the Apple. They are no longer supporting iPhones ringback tones for new services. If you currently have ringback tones, you're good until they expire however you are not able to make any changes or additions to during that time.

This Southern girl is so not happy about this! We are forced to use AT&T and if the ringback tones are carrier offered/supported why in the world would they not offer to iPhone users and offer to all the zillion phones out there on the market? Are they sore that Verizon is now going to offer/sell iPhones?

Rene or anyone at Tibp - Can you do recon and find out what's what for us?

Southern

 

[baps81]

ok guys i just got off the phone with att and apple for the last hour and att couldnt help me but apple did and the end rusult is we are not shut out and before i got off the phone i had me a new christmas ringback tone so dont give up and u dont have to pay a monthly fee for the ringback you only have to pay for the actual ringback tone, yaayyyyyyyy

 

[ctt1wbw]

Of course there's gonna be a monthly fee involved. There's a fee for everything in the US for using a cell phone.

 

[ATT_RBT]

Ringback Tones (Answer Tones) and iPhones

Hi! I am the product owner for RBTs at AT&T. I apologize for the confusion with the RBT and iphones. Your RBTs are fully functional with the iphone but you will need to use the web from a laptop or PC to access the AppCenter Storefront for shopping and management for the next few months. the AppCenter Storefront is located at appcenter.wireless.att.com . You can also access the appcenter Sf from your iphone but ONLY if you are connected to WIFI b/c the site is very "heavy" in terms of content bandwidth. I am very happy to say that we are currently working on a new HTML 5 RBT iPhone App which we will launch in early 2011 which will allow for easy access to RBT shopping and management directly from your iPhone or Droid device

 

[ctt1wbw]

For what, $20 a month? If there is a monthly fee, you might as well save the cost of operations, because I for one certainly won't pay a fee to have this feature. I already pay enough to talk on a frequency to begin with.

 

[ddclark94]

I just got a ringback tone and the monthly fee is 99cents. I purchased it and didn't specify a phone it works fine.

 

[tnphoneman]

copied from baps81's post 12/4...
"ok guys i just got off the phone with att and apple for the last hour and att couldnt help me but apple did and the end rusult is we are not shut out and before i got off the phone i had me a new christmas ringback tone so dont give up and u dont have to pay a monthly fee for the ringback you only have to pay for the actual ringback tone, yaayyyyyyyy"

Does anyone know how we actully get the ringback tones and get them to function on an iPhone4 for inbound calls as before???

 

[SouthernBlendFL]

Hi it's Southern again. I gave it my ringback tones search a rest and am now back. ATT_RBT I was able to get into the site you referenced however it was just to maintain the one remaining tone that I have left. I was NOT able to add new tones as the iPhone device is not listed under AT&T and when I clicked under don't see my device this is the message:

"If you are an AT&T iPhone customer: iPhone users are not able to download products from the AppCenter, but should visit the Apple iTunes or the App Store instead. There you can find AT&T specific apps, such as AT&T Navigator, AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T My Wireless Mobile and Mobile Banking, as well as many others. You can access the App Store directly from your iPhone or download iTunes and the App Store here. (links to: Apple - iTunes - Everything you need to be entertained)

This is confusing as hell to me as the app store does not handle the ringback tones; it's an AT&T function since it is not a part of the device, but a service of the device?

Are ringback tones for the iPhone lost forever?

 

[FusionCraze68]

Ringback Tones do work! =)

Hello, the ringback tones do work on the iPhone 4. Mine carried over when I upgraded but just like everyone else, I had difficulty adding new ones. Well thanks to ddclark94, the solution is to ignore the "select a phone" step! Just go ahead, order your tone, put in your phone number and it will go through fine! You can also manage your tones as well. Good luck everyone!

appcenter.wireless.att.com

 

[ReignMan]

does anyone know, if i can use normal mass provider like this one: http://www.ect-ringback.com/ for my iphone, or are their any problems for getting ringback tones on a cloud from them?

 

[kms-technology]

I don't recall AT&T ever offering caller ringtones. I know Verizon does - I hate calling my friends who use them.

Me too, finding ringtones from Internet seems easier to me