Make a ringtone
Cut a 30s iPhone (M4R) or Android (MP3) ringtone with fades.
Runs locally in your browser. Enable JavaScript to use the interactive tool. The practical details remain available below.
What Make a ringtone actually does
The part of a song that works as a ringtone is a few seconds long and almost never where a typed start time lands. This workspace draws the waveform, lets the selection be dragged or nudged by keyboard, and plays it back before encoding. It also enforces the one constraint that silently breaks ringtones: iOS refuses to sync an .m4r longer than 40 seconds, so a longer selection is refused here with the reason instead of producing a file the phone ignores.
How to use it
- Choose an audio file and review the waveform.
- Drag the selection over the passage wanted, or nudge either edge with the arrow keys.
- Play the selection to check where it starts and ends.
- Pick iPhone or Android, add fades if the cut is abrupt, and run.
- Download the .m4r or .mp3 and move it to the phone.
Useful for
- Cutting a ringtone out of a track already owned.
- Making a short alert tone from a recording.
- Producing the same hook in both phone formats.
Limits worth knowing
- An iPhone ringtone must be 40 seconds or shorter to sync; a longer selection is refused rather than encoded.
- The iPhone output is AAC in an ipod container with the .m4r extension; Android output is MP3.
- Installing the file on the phone is a manual step this tool does not perform.
Questions people ask
Why is 40 seconds the limit?
It is Apple's constraint. An .m4r longer than 40 seconds will not sync, so it is refused here rather than produced.
How do I install it on an iPhone?
Transfer the .m4r to the device through Finder or iTunes; it then appears under ringtones in the sound settings.
Does Android have the same limit?
No. The Android MP3 output has no length cap here.