[iPhone] How to Create and Install Custom iPhone SMS Tones

July 16th, 2009

This ability is present in basic cell phones, but for some reason Apple decided to leave it out of the iPhone. We are limited to 6 text message tones Apple has included in the phone. This may change one day, but for now, we need to do some kung-fu to get it done.

Here is how:

You will need to Jailbreak your iPhone before we get started — you can do this by following this guide.

-First – pick out the sound you want to use as your text message tone. We will need to convert it to .AIF format, and then rename it to .CAF.
- Get your file into iTunes going to File > Add to Library in iTunes.
- Go to Preferences > General, and click on “Import Settings”. Make sure it is set to “AIFF”. Now right click on your file, and click “Create AIFF version”. You will get a .AIFF copy of the file below the original.
- Right click on the new .AIFF version of the file and click “Show in Finder” for Mac, or “Show in Windows Explorer” for Windows version ofiTunes.
-From the Finder window, drag the new AIFF to your desktop. This will make it easier to install the file later.
- This next part is very important to get it right. Your iPhone comes with 6 SMS tones. In the file system they are know as “sms-received1.caf” to “sms-received6.caf”. Your new SMS tone is going to replace one of these.
- Pick the one you least like- mine is “Tri-tone”, which is sms-received1.caf in the file system. Rename the file you created, including the extension, sms-received1.caf. In OS X, you will get a prompt asking if you really want to use this extension. Click “Use .caf”.
**For this next step, you need to have OpenSSH installed on your jailbroken iPhone. To install OpenSSH, launch Cydia > tap Search > type in openssh > tap on the result > click Install at the top-right. Now we need to get the tone onto your phone. You’ll need knowledge of OpenSSH for this next part. If you’re new to OpenSSH, you can search YouTube for a guide. I’ll fill you in briefly (that’s what she said). This has to be done over a WiFi network that both your iPhone and your computer are connected to.
- Open up you FTP client of choice. I use Filezilla, but any client should work fine. For the host, type in the IP address of your iPhone. The IP address can be found by going to Settings > Wi-Fi > click the blue arrow to the right of the network you are connected to. You will see your IP on the first row, enter that into the SSH client, the username is “root”, the password is “alpine”, and you want to use port 22. It may take a few tries to get in, so have patience.
- Go to the file we created earlier (you moved it to the Desktop) > drag it to /System/Library/Audio/UISounds using your SSH client. Make sure it is named “sms-received1.caf”, or whichever tone you chose to replace.
- Now restart the iPhone, go to Settings > Sounds and set the new tone.