You can easily change up your iPhone’s ringtone, alarm, and notification chimes.Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Show
Part of / The Verge Guide to the iPhone Apple’s ecosystem can be a little “one size fits all” without a lot of room for personalization (though that’s changing in iOS 16). Customizing your iPhone’s alert sounds can make your device feel a little more personal and fun. And maybe — I’m just spitballing here — you can even make a funny reference to a ’90s comedy starring Bill Murray in the process. Just an idea. In any case, here’s how to change the sounds for your ringtone, mail, texts, and calendar alerts. For reference, I tested this out on an iPhone 11 running iOS 15.5:
The only alert sound you can’t access from this menu is an alarm. For that, you need to follow a couple of different steps:
You’ll see the same list of ringtones from the steps above (including the Classic ringtones) as well as the option to Pick a song through Apple Music. Alert tones can’t be used for your alarm, which is probably for the best. From the Sounds & Haptics menu, you can select an alert sound to change. To change your alarm sound, you need to open the Clock app. Add custom ringtonesIf you’re game, here’s where things get more fun: custom ringtones. Remember those? They still exist. You can download your own sounds and song clips from the iTunes store to use as ringtones for your alarms and alerts.
There are a lot of options, and be warned: they aren’t free. When I checked it, song clips all seemed to be priced at $1.29, while audio clips were 99 cents. If you’re morally opposed to paying for a ringtone, then you’ll need to turn back now and stick with the Apple-supplied options. If you correctly recognize that $1.29 is a small price to pay to reconnect with your high school self by making “Genie in a Bottle” your ringtone, you’re in the right place. You can download additional (paid) ringtones from the iTunes Store. This ringtone was $1.29. Setting it as my alarm and annoying my spouse every morning? Priceless. There are plenty of fun options on the Apple-curated “featured” page, which is the first one you’ll see. This is where you’ll probably find whatever song is big on TikTok right now. But let’s say, hypothetically, you wanted to set your alarm to play a clip from Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” to pay tribute to the 1993 classic film Groundhog Day. Or to annoy your partner every morning. The reason why isn’t important. Here’s how you would go about it:
During this process, you’ll be prompted to set the new tone as your default ringtone, text tone, or assign it to a contact. Don’t do any of that yet — just tap Done and pay your $1.29. Once you’ve made your purchase, follow the steps above to find the sound settings for the alarm you want to change. Choose Download All Purchased Tones to access your purchased tone — it will appear right at the top of the ringtones list once downloaded. Tap it to set your new alarm sound. Congratulations! You’re on your way to irritating your partner every single morning with a joke from a ’90s comedy until you both get sick of it. That’s $1.29 well spent in my book. Join the conversation Most Popular
Verge Deals/ Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. Email (required)Sign up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. How do I change the ringtone on my Clock alarm?Use a sound. Open your phone's Clock app .. At the bottom, tap Alarm.. On the alarm you want, tap the Down arrow .. Tap the current sound's name.. Choose a sound: Pick a sound from the list: Tap it. Use your own sound file: If you've downloaded a sound file to your phone, tap Add new. Your sound file.. How do I change the ringtone for my alarm on my iPhone?Open the Clock app, tap the Alarm tab, then tap Edit. Tap the alarm, then tap Sound and choose a Sound.
How do I change my wake up alarm sound?Swipe up from the bottom of your screen, and tap Alarms . Tap Set an alarm.. Make the alarm repeat.. Change the alarm tone.. Include a sunrise alarm.. Play your morning Routine after your alarm goes off.. How do I set my favorite song as my alarm tone?How to set your favorite song as alarm on your Android phone. Connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable.. The phone's storage should be visible under Devices and Drivers.. Find the song on your PC (preferably in MP3 or MP4 format). Copy the song onto your phone's internal storage in the Alarms folder.. |