iTunes 7.4.1 already released -- free ringtone workaround is NOT ok
By Ryan Block 
posted September 7th 2007 11:35PM
posted September 7th 2007 11:35PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted September 7th 2007 11:35PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
I find it funny that M$ gets all these monopoly claims when I see this kind of crap from Apple. I run Vista Ultimate 64 bit and rarely have any issues with anything I run on it. Before you all go off on me, I also have a Macbook Pro, which I prefer for most things and I run Ubuntu in VM on the Macbook and dual partition on the Windows machine.
The reason I think this is funny is because my 2.5 year old Windows Mobile 5 phone runs any damn song I want as a ringer. Is it a big brick? yeah. Do I hate it? Most of the time - but randomly enough M$ could care less whether I use my own song as a ringtone. What kind of crap is that anyway?!?! If I buy a song and put that song on my music playing phone, why shouldn't I be able to point the ringer at my song?
The only thing I am worried about is the phone providers. They are forcing phone manufacturers to alter (cripple) their base software so they can sell you more services. This is one of the main reasons Verizon will lose me as a customer. The thing that sucks is you have to pay an arm and a leg to get the phone the manufacturer intended - all features in tact.
It's because Apple can't piss off the record companies. They don't want to lose their support of iTunes.
Yup, it's a problem for a company that has multiple divisions/products. If Apple didn't have the iTunes store, but just made an iPhone, I'd bet that it would play any music file you wanted as a ringtone.
This same concept applies to Sony as well. Sony electronics division used to put out some excellent products, but when Sony created the record/movie side of the company, they started doing all these stupid DRM and other crazy things throughout the company.
can anyone tell me how to creeate ringtones for my iphone on itunes? i downloaded the itunes 7.4.1 but i dont see anything that says cut the songs or convert them at all
You're a smart one, ain't ya?
@Sean
Note the "69" at the end of his username. Looks like you nailed this one haha. (also note it says "banks" which, could be his name actually, last name, but, usually that implies the more underground term for "money")
@dayunbanks69
Did you read the article? The whole point of it is to tell you that you CAN'T.
The official ringtones from Apple iTunes has not been released yet. Check out the web page on Apple's web site. It says "Coming Soon" http://www.apple.com/iphone/ringtones/
Okay so now the question is, how do you get those ringtones out of your library? Deleting the files from the Ringtones directory doesn't do it.
I tried the trick of reimporting the iTunes Library XML file, but that breaks a bunch of things, so I restored my original library. It would be nice if there were a way to edit the binary iTunes Library file.
This debate seems like a non-issue. Look, Apple is out to make $$$ not be your friend. They have licensing deals with providers that despite apple's strong-arm tactics when it comes to iTunes do actually have some say with how their material is used. They build software that does what they want and what they are allowed to do based on their contracts. iTunes is not purported to be 'hacker friendly'.
If you don't like the way they run their business .... take it elsewhere. I understand that there is appeal if you have all apple gear, macbook pro with iPod, maybe an iPhone so why not use iTunes ... look, just do a cost benefit ratio analysis. If iTunes isn't giving you what you want ... find something that does.
Oh, and I'm running a moto rokr e6, I'm giving you one guess as to how many times I run into built in restrictions (besides one small one with recording calls and an annoying beep, it's required by law). And no, no prize for the winner. :P
Don't preach to me. The way I see it, greed is alive and well. Both greedy-consumers that feel they deserve free ringtones, and greedy corporations milking the exploited musicians and artists.
Personally, a company that has a phone service can take the cake away by making ringtones free, and allowing you to download themes free, and store music free (still need to buy the songs, but once only...).
We need more competition. Ha, you lose $200 but we give you $100 credit...suckers.
I dunno if it's a 'lose 200$' situation. I mean, there is a premium on buying tech early. I mean, I paid looooots purchasing one of the first dvd recorders for PC. It was scsi at the time too, so new scsi card, and burner. I can't remember how much it cost at the time but looking at newegg now I didn't buy it for 35$. :)
I don't wanna preach FOSS solutions but there are a lot of good phones out there that bypass a lot of the crap providers like ATT, cingular, verizon et al try to pull. My E690 takes any mp3/mid and I think aac file for ringtones and I can make themes (if I had the itch) as well. No lockdowns on installing java and even native apps are coming slowly but surely. Competition is here. :)
i have the most up to date itunes and i just did the "hack" and it worked... so i dont know what u guys are doing wrong... in osx and you have to "get info" for each ringtone and change it to m4r... if you simply rename it in finder, it wont work... then import it into itunes nad it works... at least for me it does...
I don't know if you saw this, but apparently this works. I haven't tried it yet. Just passing on some info I saw elsewhere...
http://joemaller.com/2007/09/08/make-custom-iphone-ringtones-work-with-itunes-741/
I just tried it, Danny. It works!
(Now, if only I could delete the old file associations!)
Yep! It works! And I agree, those old file associations need to go...
Hold the phone....
Does this fix the m4r ringtones?:
http://joemaller.com/2007/09/08/make-custom-iphone-ringtones-work-with-itunes-741/
yep that works just go the ringtones folder and change it back to m4a and boom syncs....
now you have to .m4r it to get it in and then .m4a it to sync, another step apple come on it was soooooo easy
yep that works just go the ringtones folder and change it back to m4a and boom syncs....
now you have to .m4r it to get it in and then .m4a it to sync, another step apple come on it was soooooo easy
The renaming back to to .m4a under 7.4.0 would not change anything; once accepted as ringtones, they would continue to sync. In 7.4.1, though, if you've done that, no amount of renaming back and forth will get them to sync. Just trying to isolate the criteria being used here. Am currently looking at creator codes.
hahaha...apparently people at apple Inc.. read engadget!!!....
To Add a new ringtone just simply do as it had been told since morning, one more step to add on is change .m4r back to .m4a .... it works ... at least for me
All the ringtones i installed using installer.app are still fine and working... nice try apple.
What's the best P2P solution for pirating ringtones?
(i wouldn't use it, but there should be one to countermand this madness)
"Vista sucks, I hate Apple.
Thing is though... XP is awesome compared to OS X and Vista."
XP is System 8.6, OS X is XP, Vista is OS X, and Leopard is new until Microsoft copies it.
I develop on windows grudgingly, and then go home and surf for porn happily on my mac.
Apple owns you!
What's wrong with you people! Astrobase GO!!
Go team Venture!!!
EXACTLY GO TEAM VENTURE! There needs to be an update to tell us exactly what the ringtone was! Is it the Venture Brothers Opener? Or some witty dialogue?
I'm still amazed that something that should be "legal" is still getting stomped on by Apple.
So, you feel that making a ringtone from a tune you've bought should be legal. It's not. I think bread and milk should be free, guess what happens when I try to walk out of my local safeway?
To those saying Apple is "dumb" for making this so easy don't get the point: until you ask to have the license terms changed you are still stealing -- no matter how easy it is.
According to my understanding (And Engadget's "legal correspondent") it IS legal to make a ringtone from a tune you already own. As a continuation of your "bread and milk" analogy, sure, it's illegal to walk out the door with them. It's not illegal to go home, and cook a completely different meal with them. Or to take the milk and make cheese from it.
The music is purchased. Until a few years ago, there was never any question about the legality of this. Sure, the proliferation of computers and the ease of transmission has made it possible for illegal transmission of data to have a significant effect on the industry. However, I'm tired of being a legitimate user of music, code, or whatever, and being assumed to be guilty.
I'd be much more likely to actively support piracy control and efforts by the MPAA and RIAA if they really focused on "Fair Use" instead of the current tactics.
It's gotten asinine.
Good by Apple to block this.
I really wonder how much of all this ringtone nastiness is Apple's doing, and how much is having to appease AT&T.
If a person buys a CD then it is clearly a case of acceptable fair use to play those songs on whatever device they own. I.e. You can copy it to your iPod and play it, why is any different if it is a ringtone?
My gut feel is that part of the concessions that Apple had to make to get the deal they wanted with AT&T is that they had to make the phone only play purchased ringtones. If they are doing it just for the money then shame on Apple!
So who downloaded the iTunes 7.4 installer... I can just load it on my "other" computer and enjoy free ringtone freedom.
SO. Where can we download the latest version that allows for this workaround ?
I'm going to guess that this would be iTunes Version 7.41 (MINUS THE 0.1)
Then i see something that says "Build 2" grr kinda confusing.
Regards,
~X
I just ash into the phone and upload my mp3 ringtomes
The "hack DOES WORK with the latest version of iTunes (7.4.1 or whatever they came up with today...). Simply follow these steps:
1. Confirm iTunes is set to import to AAC 128
2. If the “to-be” rington is not currently AAC, convert it by right clicking
3. Delete the new aac file from the library ONLY
4. Locate the file and Move it to your desktop
5. Rename the file from xxxx.m4a to xxxx.m4r
6. Double Click on the file
7. Return to iTunes and confirm it is now in the iPhone ringtones tab, but no not Sync
8. Locate the file in your iTunes Music/Ringtones Directory
9. Rename file from xxxx.m4r to xxxx.m4a
10. Sync!!! All should be well.
One specific confirmation request for the community. Pleae confirm that there is NO NEED to double click on the newly renamed M4a file located in the Ringtone directory. It seems this messes things up, but I’ve seen it listed several times before.
Well, I could never get the free ringtones thing to work so guess it's more money to Apple. At least it's not MSFT.
Stop!!! Don't tell anybody or Apple will breal it again!!
I'll never understand how people can be so foolish as to idolize Apple. Their products have been questionable at best, and the prices since their inception have been higher than the market should bear. They design products whose batteries can't be replaced, for example, and lead the rest of the industry in that direction. Now we all suffer. They are petty about what they allow their products to do. They want to gouge their customers and make them pay for everything that is free on the rest of the market. Why are people so dumb loyal? There are products on the market that work as good and many that work better. They seem to want to line their pockets with severe greed while leaving their loyal customers in a money hole. Their designs are limited so as to destroy any competition at your expense. Monopolyism!! The rest of the world says "look at our products and see how we designed them to do what you want. We make them versatile for you our loyal customers." While Apple says "pay me for everything! Nothing is free here. And if it is free now, it won't be in the future." If I were one of their loyal customers, I'd say "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!!" as I ran at supersonic speed to Apples competitors.
What has history (Apples) taught us? Yes! Apple is and always has been greedy! Just look at the Ipods. They make them so that you have to either throw them away or send them back to Apple, at an exorbitant expense, just to replace a battery. They come out with a phone (Iphone) that is exorbitantly over priced to get the most they can out of their most loyal customers and then drop the price by $200.00 to get to the less loyal fans. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist do you? And no I don’t want something for free. You already pay an extreme price, so why should you have to pay more for features that are free in the rest of the world’s products at a lower price even. (And no I’m not a Windows/Gates fan either!)
You really need to back this up with hard facts than random thoughts. You might as well make vague claims that the world sucks too and Microsft is somehow the reason. Back it up. I'm tired of all of this claimless bashing on either. Just because you don't like the way they make a product doesn't mean they are greedy. Here is a fact: Apple is giving $100 dollars back to iphone buyers. That is a fact. When is the last time you hear of a cell company/developer - Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung etc - giving that much cash back to first time buyers? I don't recall Motorola giving Razr cutomers who spent $400 originally, money back because they go for free now. It's a cell phone for crying out loud, the price fluctuates weekly. (BTW - PC & Mac owner)
The phrase "defective by design" comes to mind.
I got the ringtones I wanted to sync, but now I cannot find where they are on my phone. It is not listed in the sounds settings menu. Any help please.
God, I've never seen so many whiny bitches in my life. First, everyone was complaining about no ringtones for the iPhone, now they complain about the price (which is fair lower than ringtone prices on other phones)! Jesus, forget the multitouch, forget the Video iPOD, full internet, Google Maps, Widgets. No, the real reason I bought the iPhone, was so I could have free RINGTONES! Boo Hooo!
It never ends. Before Sept 5, every Apple hater was complaining because the iPhone was so expensive, now that they've lowered the price, those same haters are saying LOOK, Apple gouged you on the phone and all the Apple faithful agree with them! Nothing is ever good enough for you people. I hope Steve Jobs never makes another revolutionary product, just to spite you idiots. He taps water from a rock and everyone wants wine!
YAY! another post about about apple that somehow boils down to Mac vs. PC argument!
The record companies aren't the ones trying to stop us from using their songs as ringtones. It's the service providers.
Service prociders like to cripple the phones they subsize to disallow the transfer of mp3 files because that forces you to get ringtones through their own paid service. That extra fee you have to pay Apple to make a ringtone goes to AT&T, not some RIAA company.
ok erm.. completly off topic...well not off comments but.... it went frm vista sux to mac sux bac 2 convertin and ten apple sux and thn winey loosers.... LOL i love this site... hehe
neho i was wonderin if u guyz could reccomend sum online stores tat i can buy the apple iphone out of... dont care if its unlocked or not.. i can do it hehe... hopefulli... i want it preffered frm an apple store in ta us but i need in the auztralia... wanna gift it 2 my dad... and on ebay its just plain stupid cuz a 8gb one is lk 1 gran and higer unlocked... and abt 750 to 900 for locked... and its ta same phone as the bloody store is selling... so yea... which i can get for a cool 470 auz... so yea... hopefulli u can help uz out... i kno fatherz day has passes but i think my dad deservez it... cuz i jus got enuf.... 2 spnd
someone might have said this already...
if when you renamed a ringtone it ceased to load... what if you changed a new ringtone to the name of one it allows?
all this free time invested by "independant technology enthusiasts" into making "our" toys better gets shot down by apple and switched with a price tag. is the charge to pay for actually blocking someone better at creating software from creating it only to replace it with fee ridden ball and chained software? if thats the sucky goal then i think your good ap-pizzle.