One of the most talked about features of Apple's new mobile operating system is the ability to add custom SMS and alert tones to your iPhone. Back in the old days the iPhone limited users to only a few SMS tones, which is why everywhere you went all you heard was that annoying tritone sound. Thankfully, with iOS 5, Apple included many more ringtones right off the bat, and you can add more to give yourself the greatest texting experience.

Finding new tones to put on your phone is another issue, since you have either to make them yourself, buy them, or find someone who is putting them out for free. Thankfully, there is a free app in the iPhone app store that makes adding new SMS tones free and easy, aptly named SMS Tones. While it does not have millions of SMS Tones to choose from, it certainly has enough to keep you busy and keep your phone sounding fresh.

Download The App

Head over to the iTunes app store and search for SMS Tones Free or simply click here, and download the application. As I said before, the application is available for free, and they offer a $.99 upgrade that gives access to many more SMS Tones. The free version grants access to over 40 tones, so there is plenty to keep you busy for a while.

Choose Ringtones

When you open the application, you are greeted by the list of available ringtones. Oddly, they are not in alphabetical order. Still, sifting through them to find the one you are looking for is not hard.

iphone sms ringtones

To hear what the tone sounds like, simply tap it once, and the application will take a second to load the preview. You can play the preview for as many SMS tones as you like without committing to add any of them to your phone.

sms ringtones for iphone

Once you play a preview of a tone, a little circle will appear next to the name. If you want to add a ringtone, simply click that circle and the ringtone will be queued to add to your phone.

Getting Ringtones On The iPhone

Sadly, simply adding the ringtone in the app is not the last step for adding it to your iPhone. Apple requires you to add ringtones through iTunes via synchronizing, so even with this app you still have to go through that process.

sms ringtones for iphone
  • First, have whatever ringtones you want selected, this way when you connect your iPhone to iTunes the tones will appear under File Sharing.
  • Go to the File Sharing tab in iTunes and copy the ringtones anywhere on your computer.
  • Then, drag the files back to your library in iTunes, and make sure ringtone synchronizing is on before you sync your device to add the new tones.
  • The last step in getting the ringtones on your device is to click Sync in iTunes and let your iPhone run through the sync process.
iphone sms ringtones

Now that you have finished putting the SMS tones on your iPhone, go to Settings and then Sounds. From there, you will be able to change your alerts for SMS, Email and most other sounds the phone makes. The new items you downloaded will appear in the list, and be ready for use on your iPhone.

Conclusion

With SMS Tones, adding some cool new sounds to your phone is free and easy. Simply follow these steps, and in a few minutes, you will be able to free yourself from the built-in tones that everyone has, and give your phone a little more personal flair.

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