A mere 18 years after the iPhone first launched, Apple has quietly fixed one of the most-complained-about aspects of iOS: you can now turn your music into custom ringtones without complicated workarounds. This is something Android users have been able to do forever and now we can too. Hooray!
For a long time, anyone looking to set an mp3 file as a ringtone had to rely on importing and editing the tracks via Garageband, or plugging their iPhone into a Mac and fiddling around in iTunes. Now – or at least, when iOS 26 is officially released in September – you can do it directly on-device from the Files app with just a few taps. Here’s how.
There is still a little bit of work to be done – you’ll need to own an mp3 or m4a file that’s less than 30 seconds long. Music files can be trimmed in your preferred app and saved to Files.
Once you’ve got the correct file, the process is simple. Hit the Share button, tap More, and find Use as Ringtone. You can do the same for audio files in Voice Memos, too, if you want to set one of your own recordings as a ringtone.
You’ll then see the song listed when you choose a ringtone in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone. If you change your mind, you can swipe across a custom ringtone and choose Delete to get rid of it.
Note there’s no way to get songs from a streaming service like Apple Music or Spotify as ringtones. You have to actually own the music outright. And remember this capability is only on
Of course, you can still buy ringtones from iTunes if you don’t mind paying for individual tracks – but this gives you an alternative free option for music you already own.