The two rules iOS enforces
A file only works as an iPhone ringtone if it satisfies both of these. The extension must be .m4r, which is an AAC stream in an MP4 container — the same audio as an .m4a file, renamed to what iOS looks for. And it cannot run longer than 40 seconds. Select a longer region here and it is trimmed to fit rather than rejected, so a 60-second selection quietly becomes the first 40 seconds.
Android is far less fussy: MP3 works, and there is no length limit worth worrying about. If the ringtone is for an Android phone, export MP3 and ignore the rest of this section.
Choosing the right 30 seconds
A ringtone is heard from a pocket, across a room, usually starting mid-conversation. That changes what makes a good excerpt. The hook needs to arrive in the first two or three seconds, because a phone is often answered before the clip reaches its best part. A quiet atmospheric intro that works beautifully on an album is useless here.
- Aim for 20 to 30 seconds. The 40-second ceiling exists, but few calls ring that long.
- Start on a strong beat or the first word of the hook, not two bars before it.
- Prefer a section with clear rhythm. Sustained pads and slow builds are hard to hear against background noise.
- Enable both fades. A ringtone that opens with a click is much more noticeable than a click inside a longer clip, and one that ends abruptly sounds like a fault.
Tip: Listen to your selection at low volume before exporting. Ringtones are usually heard quietly and from a distance, and a mix that seems punchy at full volume can disappear entirely at arm's length.
Getting it onto the phone
This is the step no browser tool can do for you. On macOS, connect the phone and drag the .m4r into Finder; on Windows, use iTunes. Once it has synced, the tone appears under Settings, Sounds and Haptics, where you can set it as the default or assign it to a single contact. On Android, copy the MP3 into the Ringtones folder on the device and pick it from the sound settings.
One legal note worth stating plainly: making a ringtone from music you own for your own phone is normal personal use, but distributing ringtones cut from copyrighted recordings is not. Preview runs locally here; the export is processed on the server and the file is deleted as soon as your download completes.