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How to turn any song into a ringtone on your Android phone

NextPit How To Make Ringtones
© Worawee Meepian / Shutterstock.com

Want to stand out from the rest of the crowd? Custom ringtones are the way to go, and here we will show how to make a ringtone for Android way to personalize your Android smartphone. You can use your favorite songs as ringtones and assign each one to specific friends, family members or even your boss. Read on below to know how you can turn a song into a ringtone for Android via a step-by-step tutorial.


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How to custom ringtone on Android

Android has a way to create custom ringtones baked right into its operating system. Since Android 9.0 Pie is possible to download anything special to get this to work. All you need is a song or audio file on your device. For this tutorial, we use the Google Pixel 5 running on Android 12.

Once you have your file stored on your phone, head over to Settings and then Sound & vibration. Tap Phone ringtone > My Sounds and then at the bottom right of the screen click on the + icon to add a new ringtone to your list of default options.

NextPit Ringtones phone Android 12
You can use any song as your ringtone directly on Android / © NextPit

You can choose from songs, artists, albums, genres or select a track from a folder. By searching through the files tab, you can even browse on Cloud storage for audio files. Once you have added a ringtone, it will appear in your list of tones. Simply select it and your new ringtone will be already set. The example pictured above is an MP3 track called Prince Johnny, by St. Vincent.

Create custom ringtones using a third-party app

There are several apps on the Play Store which can do this, but for this tutorial, we'll be using an open-source app known as MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker. One thing good about this app is it does not blast you with ads right from the beginning, but only when you want to access select features. Removing the ads and unlocking all of its premium features (all songs, etc.) will cost a one-time fee of US$3.99.

In-app purchases are required to access additional features, but the bare basics are good enough for the average Android user who wants nothing more than cut a select segment from their favorite MP3 track. This app allows you to use any sound or song you have on your phone as a ringtone. Once you have created your ringtone, you can then set it as your default sound or assign it to a specific contact. In addition to ringtones, the app can also create custom alarms and notification sounds.

Getting started

First things first, you will need to install the free MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker app from the Google Play Store. To turn a song into a ringtone, you'll also have to have the audio files or music you wish to use on your smartphone's internal storage or its microSD card. MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker is compatible with MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG and FLAC audio files, among others.

  1. Launch the MP3 Cutter & Ringtone Maker app on your Android phone.
  2. Once the app launches, you'll see a list of options from trending TikTok tunes to Hindi Bollywood - whatever floats your boat! However, if you have an audio track on your smartphone that you would like to edit, you can select MP3 Cutter. 
  3. Select the song you would like to use as a ringtone from the list.
  4. Once you have selected a song, its waveform will open up in the editor. Use the two sliders above and below the graph to choose a start and end point for your ringtone.
  5. Finally, save the sound clip by selecting Save. You can rename it if you want to, and specify which type of alert you want to use it for (the default option is ringtone).
NextPit Ringtone phone Android
You can choose any song on your device to turn into a ringtone / © NextPit

All the ringtones that you create will be stored in the Output Folder that can be accessed via the app’s main overview. 

What song will you use as your ringtone? Let us know in the comments.


This article has been completely revised and new steps included in the tutorial. Comments from before the republishing date have been kept.

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Edwin Kee

Edwin Kee
Freelance Editor and Forum Moderator

The love of writing and all things tech have proven to be the catalyst that has kept me going in this industry for the past decade. Here are to many more years ahead, at least until Android Vanilla Pudding is released!

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24 comments
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  • 1
    Zaman Jul 17, 2022 Link to comment

    Hi, you can try MUSCONV, its a free tools to transfer playlists from Spotify to Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Tidal.


  • 3
    PeterBlack Jul 5, 2022 Link to comment

    Thanks for sharing a good information on "Thousands are Swapping Spotify for Apple Music". I just love this. I use musconv 1 for free to transfer of my playlist.

    Geo Smith


  • Chatmoresley 5
    Chatmoresley Feb 19, 2021 Link to comment

    I often use Joyoshare VidiKit to save online music to computer in different formats and then send to my phone. It is much more convenient as some songs I want cannot be downloaded directly.

    Geo Smith


  • 4
    vanmore Feb 29, 2020 Link to comment

    Great app, easy to use.

    Geo Smith


  • 2
    adn Oct 6, 2019 Link to comment

    It does work :) Thanks

    Geo Smith


  • Paris Young 3
    Paris Young Mar 18, 2019 Link to comment

    I am using Synios Manager to create and save the ringtone to Android mobile phones. It is very easy to operate.

    Sorin


  • Roisin Cherie 2
    Roisin Cherie Jul 23, 2018 Link to comment

    I used RingDroid to make ringtones of Dimash Kudaibergen's songs!

    SorinSue Shipman


  • 3
    Sophialing White May 25, 2018 Link to comment

    When I use Apple Music to make my exclusive ringtone for my Android phone, it seems that I can't do this due to DRM protection encoded in Apple Music files. Before starting to make ringtone, I need to remove DRM lock with DRmare DRM Audio Converter and then I can freely make ringtone from Apple Music and convert them to wanted audio formats with ease.

    Sorin


  • Rothman 12
    Rothman Mar 13, 2018 Link to comment

    I have been using this app for a fair time.


  • 4
    zoeyst Mar 13, 2018 Link to comment

    It's really quite easy. Mark!


  • 26
    Andrew Burgin Mar 13, 2018 Link to comment

    Ringtone maker is the one i use and its so easy to create a ringtone or notification ringtone


  • Hunter Jach 3
    Hunter Jach Aug 22, 2017 Link to comment

    Interesting music editor


  • Glorida 3
    Glorida May 26, 2017 Link to comment

    Great app. Before I am using Apowersoft Phone Manager to transfer and set ringtones for my Android, but it can only set what I stored in my phone and cannot slip directly as it is a phone manage tool not a ringtone tool. But now, I will try this app to design and set my ringtones.
    Thanks.


  • prekyap 11
    prekyap Apr 19, 2017 Link to comment

    Thanks for sharing this.

    I have recently downloaded this app from app store and was confused how to use it after reading this article I'm now able to use it to get my favourite songs as ringtones.


  • Carmalene McGhee 2
    Carmalene McGhee Jun 2, 2016 Link to comment

    I'm using "Strawberry Letter 23"as my ringtone.

    Hunter Jach


  • 1
    Srinivas jakkula Jan 5, 2016 Link to comment

    My Redmi 1s updated. After switch on it z showing with 3 language n it z mi recovery 2.0.1.not starting my phone. Wat to do.


  • 2
    LastTUBE Jun 14, 2015 Link to comment

    Please take a look this app, LastTUBE.

    It can download ringtone(also mp3, videos) from Youtube directly to smartphone.
    And it can be edited by Ringdroid app.

    google it "lasttube2"

    Thanks in advance.
    LastTUBE


  • 1
    Jim Schultz Jun 10, 2015 Link to comment

    Works great except I wish I could use the tone for notifications as well. The only options it gives you is default ringer and contact ringer. What happened to notifications?


    • Greg1100 24
      Greg1100 Jun 10, 2015 Link to comment

      I ripped many of my cd's into mp3's as a playlist. Then into phone.


    • 1
      Deactivated Account Aug 6, 2018 Link to comment

      I just used it for notifications, the option is there


  • 1
    Tim Berneche Jun 10, 2015 Link to comment

    I had this on my device in 2013 but removed it because WM Player converts my CD tracks into WMAs and it didn't work with those.


  • Greg1100 24
    Greg1100 Jun 10, 2015 Link to comment

    I have been using this app for a fair time. It works well, easy to use. Brilliant.


  • 1
    Ingrid Goddik Jun 9, 2015 Link to comment

    My Avast app said Ringdroid wanted to access my microphone. I read on Drippler that when Facebook did this with their music app, they accidentally (or not) also recorded users through the microphone. Could this happen with this app? Thanks!


  • Gavin Belson 1
    Gavin Belson Jun 9, 2015 Link to comment

    Great app, thanks for sharing!

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