Your new ringtone says the name perfectly. You download it to your iPhone, open Settings—and it is nowhere in the ringtone list. That's normal. The download is still an audio file; GarageBand is the bridge between that file and an iPhone ringtone.
Before You Start: Save the Audio and Install GarageBand
Need an audio file first? Make one with the name ringtone maker: choose music and a voice, enter the name, and pick one of the endings on the page.
Save the finished audio in the Files app on your iPhone. Don't leave it on the preview screen for later: you can download generated files from your account for 24 hours. You'll also need Apple's GarageBand app, which you can get from the App Store if it isn't already on your phone.
Step 1: Import Your Audio into GarageBand
- Open GarageBand and create an audio recording or another project with a track.
- Switch to Tracks view and tap the Loops Browser button near the top of the screen.
- Tap Files, then Browse items from the Files app.
- Find the ringtone you downloaded. Touch and hold the file, then drag it into the track.
Drag the audio all the way to the left. Otherwise, your phone may ring with a stretch of silence before the name. Trim any extra audio at the beginning or end; iPhone ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long.
Step 2: Export It as an iPhone Ringtone
Go back to My Songs in GarageBand. Select the project, tap Share, then Ringtone. Give it a name you'll recognize later, such as “Mike Calling” or “Mom's Call,” and tap Export.
GarageBand will offer to shorten anything over 30 seconds. If the name is near the end of a long recording, cancel and trim the track yourself so you don't lose the part you wanted.
Step 3: Set Your Default Ringtone
After export, GarageBand offers Use sound as. Choose Standard Ringtone to use it for incoming calls in general.
If you tapped Done instead, open Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringtone and select the exported ringtone from the list.
Give One Contact Their Own Ringtone
This is where a name ringtone comes into its own. Open Contacts, choose the person whose name it says, then tap Edit → Ringtone. Select the sound you exported and save. Everyone else can keep your usual ringtone.
GarageBand may also offer Assign to contact immediately after export. Either route works.
Can't Find the Downloaded File?
Start in the Files app: check Downloads, On My iPhone, and whichever folder you chose when saving. If you used Safari, its downloads list can help you track down the file.
In GarageBand, use Loops Browser → Files → Browse items from the Files app. The file may not appear among GarageBand's recent items until you browse to it.
Ringtone Not Playing During Calls?
Before you repeat the GarageBand steps, check the phone itself:
- Is the iPhone in Silent mode through its switch or Action button?
- Is the ringtone volume low under Settings → Sounds & Haptics?
- Is a Focus mode silencing incoming calls?
- If you assigned the sound to a contact, did you save the contact's ringtone setting?
Once You've Done It Once
The part most people miss is the GarageBand export. After that, your ringtone appears alongside the other sounds in Settings and Contacts. The next time you make a name ringtone, you can use the same route without hunting through iPhone settings again.