In this article we will see how to create and put a song as a ringtone on your Android phone, via app, Windows and macOS. We've been making custom ringtones on our phones for years, but with today's smartphones, everything just got easier.
Here, we'll walk you through the process of creating a custom Android ringtone using a multitude of methods, including RingDroid, GarageBand, and AVCWare Ringtone Maker. Making Android ringtones and listening to Ed Sheeran's latest song every time your latest Tinder dates has never been easier.
How to put a song as a ringtone on Android
1. Create ringtones using RingDroid
RingDroid is an intuitive app that allows you to create ringtones from any WAV, 3GPP, ARM, AAC, MP4 or MPE3 audio file you have on your Android phone. The process is simple and easy to understand, at least after one or two tries. The best part? It is completely free and you can create ringtones without your computer at hand.
Copy the song to the phone's internal memory
The song will need to be in the phone's internal memory before it can be turned into a ringtone. How to do this is up to you, but there are a couple of ways to do it.
- The "retro" way would be to connect the phone to the computer to manually transfer it.
- Alternatively, upload the song file to your Google Drive account and then download it to your phone.
How to cut a song by ringtone using RingDroid
- Launch RingDroid. You can download the app for free on Google Play if you don't already have it.
- RingDroid will list all the music on the phone when it is opened. Scroll through the list or use the search bar above and locate the song you want to use as your ringtone.
- If you can't find the song you just downloaded, try closing the app and restarting it.
- Tap the song title to select it and tap Cut to make it smaller.
- Adjust the markers and select the part of the song you want to use as a ringtone.
- Tap the download icon at the bottom right when you're happy with your selection.
- Name your ringtone and export it.
Assign ringtone using RingDroid
If you've just finished creating your own ringtone, setting it up is easy.
- Tap Use as in the window that opens immediately after exporting the trimmed song.
- Then select whether you want to use it as an alarm, ringtone, notification, or any combination of the three.
If you're setting this from the app's main menu, that's easy too.
- From the app's main menu, tap Cut Tones, then select the file you saved.
- Tap More, then Use As.
- Like the last method, you will then be able to choose whether you want it as an alarm, ringtone, notification, or any combination of the three.
Assign ringtone via the phone settings menu
- Go to Settings> Sound> Phone ringtone. Then select My Sounds on a standard Android 10 interface.
- Choose the desired ringtone.
The process may be slightly different on phones from other manufacturers and on older versions of Android. For example, on Samsung phones, go to the Settings app, then hit Sounds & Vibration> Ringtone.
Assign ringtone via phone contact menu
If you think a number of contacts deserve their own custom ringtones, you can set individual ringtones in your Contacts app. Follow the steps above to create a ringtone, then assign it as follows:
- Open Contacts and select the desired contact.
- Tap the three dots in the top right corner.
- Select Set Ringtone.
- Choose the desired ringtone for that contact.
2. How to put a song as a ringtone on Android using GarageBand (MacOS)
GarageBand is another free alternative that allows Mac users to create their own custom ringtones for Android. And because Apple software comes bundled with your Mac, there's no need to purchase the software.
- Launch the program and make sure you download the latest software update before continuing.
- Open the chosen song in Garageband by dragging it from your files into Garageband.
- Select Loop mode (the circular arrow icon next to the red Record button) and select the part of the song you want to use as a ringtone. Note that Android ringtones typically run in loops of 30 seconds (or less).
- Go to Garageband> Preferences> Advanced and make sure the box next to Auto Normalize is checked.
- Once you've chosen a ringtone, click the Share option in the main menu bar. Next, click Export Song to Disc and choose the desired MP3 format and a save location for the resulting audio snippet.
- Click Export in the lower right corner of the window.
3. How to put a song as an android ringtone using AVCWare Ringtone Maker (Windows)
AVCWare is software that allows you to create ringtones simply by choosing your song, selecting the part of the song you want to use and exporting it as MP3.
- Launch the program and locate the song you want to convert. If you don't already have the program, you can download it here.
- Move the selection handles to select the part of the song you want to use. You can also manually enter the exact start and end times for your ringtone if you prefer.
- Choose the output file name and output folder to save the ringtone.
- Click the iPhone icon in the lower right corner. When done, follow the steps above on how to set and assign ringtones.
4. Copy the ringtone to the phone's internal memory
Whether you create your own ringtone on your Mac or Windows computer, you will need to put it on your phone. Here's how to do it:
- Connect your Android phone to the computer.
- Drag and drop the new ringtone into the Ringtones folder in the phone's internal memory. If you don't have a designated ringtone folder, go ahead and create one.
- Eject your Android phone. When done, follow the steps above on how to set and assign ringtones.
The best apps to make ringtones
1. Ringtone Maker
Ringtone Maker is the most popular Android app for cutting songs and making ringtones. It has more than 50 million installs, and the user rating is 4,4 stars out of a total of 5. When you install and open the app, Ringtone Maker will show us a list with the audio files available in your phone, you just have to choose them one and then cut it.
By default, the app offers the option to use the full song as a ringtone. But since we want to cut it, we have to click on the "Edit" button, and finally select only that part that we want to use as a ringtone. When the already edited sound has been saved, the app will offer us the option to use the clipped song as a ringtone on your cellphone.
2. Cut song, music, audio to make ringtone
The second option we recommend is "Cut song, music, audio to make ringtone“, An application that does exactly what its name implies. When you open the application for the first time, you will find a list with several tools, including "Select File" to edit. By clicking on this option, you will be directed to a file browser where we will be able to choose the song to edit to use it as a ringtone.
The editor is very similar to that of the previous application: it is sufficient to select only the part of the song that interests us, be it the choir or simply our favorite part, and finally save the changes. If we go back to the main menu of the app, we will see a section of “Edited files”, from which we can access the songs that have been cut, and use the newly edited audio as a ringing sound.
3. Download ringtones for Android with Zedge
If you don't want to make your own ringtones, don't worry. You can download thousands of custom Android ringtones and notification sounds directly to your device thanks to an app called Zedge. This app is full of ringtones to download, quick and easy, movies, video games, memes and more.
To find new ringtones after downloading and opening Zedge:
- Tap the three horizontal bars icon in the top left corner.
- Select Ringtones o Notifications in based on what you are looking for.
- You will see the featured sounds broken down by category. Scroll until you find the one you like.
- If you don't see anything relevant, use the icon Search to find what you are looking for.
- On a ringtone page, tap the button Tax down. You can set it as alarm, notifies, contact ringtone o ringer.
Read also: How to increase the RAM of an Android phone with an SD Card