MakeiPhoneRingtone
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MakeiPhoneRingtone returns from the Dead
Rogue Amoeba, our favorite weaponized unicellular developer, has ressurected its free custom ringtone utility. Like an uncanny Zombie movie, iPhone firmware update 1.1.2 has dragged MakeiPhoneRingtone back from the beyond. 1.1.2's ringtone support once again allows you to add custom ringtones. Drop any AAC file onto its icon and the utility processes your audio and hands it off to iTunes, where you can sync it to your iPhone. As I discussed in my earlier post, you need to keep your ringtones about 40 seconds or shorter. But other than that, you're simply good to go.
MakeiPhoneRingtone hits 1.1, further obsoletes the ringtones racket
Rogue Amoeba has already updated their MakeiPhoneRingtone application to 1.1, in order to bring in the Cleverboy hack that was discovered the other day. If you missed it, they also posted a guide on how to turn any audio file into an AAC file with their product Fission (but don't forget that iTunes will also do it for you as well, it just won't cut your file for you). We're still waiting on someone to make a program that turns any file into a ringtone by itself (Rogue Amoeba is talking about adding the functionality straight to Fission), but all the tools are there.So Apple's whole ringtone system is completely, totally, and devastatingly broken. Why would anyone possibly pay money for ringtones from iTunes when it's so incredibly easy to make your own? As Gruber said in his great and very thorough commentary, the whole Ringtone racket is just that -- a racket. There's no such thing as a "ringtone" -- a ringtone is exactly the same as a song, in a different context. The idea that studios should charge more for you to choose which 30 seconds of a song you want to listen to is complete bunk.And if you think ringtones are a joke (and I do -- I've been rolling my own ever since my first cellphone), just wait until you hear about "ringles". Unbelievable.
