Make a Ringtone on iPhone in GarageBand and Assign It
To make a ringtone on iPhone with GarageBand, touch and hold your song in the My Songs browser, tap Share, tap Ringtone, then tap Export. GarageBand caps exported ringtones at 30 seconds and offers to shorten a longer one for you.
Apple’s GarageBand guide sets the limit: “The maximum length for exported ringtones is 30 seconds.”
If the song is in your Music app
A song from the Music app comes into GarageBand first, and it has to be an unprotected song stored locally on your iPhone. The note on Apple’s import page reads: “You can only import unprotected songs stored locally on your iPhone.”
The song lands in Tracks view, on an existing Audio Recorder or Amp track or on a new Audio Recorder track that GarageBand creates. Apple’s steps, in order:
- To import the entire song, set the length of the song section to Automatic. Otherwise, only the portion of the song that fits the current song section is imported.
- To get a list of tracks, tap the Tracks button.
- Tap the Loop Browser button in the control bar, then tap Music.
- Search for songs by name, or browse by album, artist, genre, or playlist.
- To preview a song, tap it in the list. You can control the preview volume with the slider at the bottom of the list.
- Drag a song left or right to show Tracks view. Align the left edge of the song with the bar or beat on the ruler where you want it to start playing.
One catch from the same page: “Songs imported from the Music app do not follow tempo changes you make in GarageBand.”
To open the My Songs browser, Apple’s create and save page says: “With a song open in GarageBand, tap the Navigation button in the control bar, then tap My Songs to open the My Songs browser.”
Export the song as a ringtone
Apple’s steps under “Share a GarageBand song as a ringtone or text tone”:
- In the My Songs browser, touch and hold the song you want to share, tap Share, then tap Ringtone. The Export Ringtone dialog opens, with the song’s name as the ringtone name by default.
- To rename the ringtone, select the name and type a new name.
- Tap Export.
- In the dialog that appears, tap OK to go back to the My Songs browser, or tap Use sound as to choose a use for the ringtone.
If the ringtone would run past 30 seconds, a dialog appears. In Apple’s words: “Tap Continue to have GarageBand shorten the ringtone automatically, or tap Cancel to return to the song so you can shorten it.”
Set it as your ringtone, your text tone or one contact’s tone
Use sound as opens four choices:
| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Standard Ringtone | Replaces your current ringtone |
| Standard Text Tone | Replaces your current text tone |
| Assign to contact | Opens your contacts so you can tap one person |
| Done | Goes back to My Songs without assigning it |
The two standard choices swap out the tone you have now. Apple’s line for calls reads “Use the ringtone as your standard ringtone, replacing the existing ringtone”.
Tap Done to skip assigning. The tone you exported still appears in Your Ringtones, a list Apple describes as “all previously exported ringtones”.
If a new text tone stays silent, our guide to no text sound on iPhone starts with Silent mode and checks the sound set for one contact. For calls, see iPhone not ringing on incoming calls.
Hearing a ring with no call coming in? Our piece on an iPhone ringing for no reason starts with the Clock app.
Delete GarageBand ringtones you no longer want
You clear out old tones from the same Share path you used to make them. Apple’s steps under managing exported ringtones:
- In the My Songs browser, touch and hold the song you want to share, tap Share, then tap Ringtone.
- In the Export Ringtone dialog, tap Your Ringtones. A dialog opens showing all previously exported ringtones.
- To delete a ringtone, swipe left over its name, then tap Delete.
- When you’re finished, tap outside of the dialog. To return to the Export Ringtone dialog without deleting ringtones (or if there are no existing ringtones), tap Export Ringtone.
Moving to a new iPhone? See our guide to transferring ringtones from iPhone to iPhone.
Questions about GarageBand ringtones
Why won’t my song import into GarageBand?
From the Music app, GarageBand can import only unprotected songs stored locally on your iPhone, per the note on Apple’s import page. A protected song, or one that is not stored on the iPhone, will not come in from the Music app.
Why did only part of my song import?
Apple’s import steps set the song section to Automatic to bring in the entire song; otherwise, only the portion that fits the current song section is imported. After the import, make the song section longer, then resize the imported region so more of it plays.
How long can a GarageBand ringtone be?
Up to 30 seconds. A longer one brings up a dialog where Continue lets GarageBand shorten it and Cancel takes you back to the song to shorten it yourself.
Can I give one contact their own ringtone?
Yes. After Export, tap Use sound as, tap Assign to contact, then tap the contact you want to use the ringtone with.