How to set a custom text tone on iPhone

Updated by Winton Gee

Quick answer

Make a tone of a few seconds, add it to your iPhone with Use as Ringtone, then open Settings, tap Sounds & Haptics, tap Text Tone and choose your tone near the top of the list. The same tone can also be used for New Mail, Calendar Alerts and Reminder Alerts.

A text tone you made yourself tells you a message arrived without anyone else's phone answering too. These steps are for iOS 26 and later.

1. Make a short sound

  1. In Ringtone & Text Tone Maker, tap New tone and choose an audio file, the sound from a video, or Record.
  2. Choose Text tone at the top of the editor.
  3. Drag the handles on the waveform to the part you want. One to five seconds works well for a text tone.
  4. Add a short fade in or fade out if the clip starts or ends abruptly, then tap Save.

2. Add it to your iPhone

  1. On the tone's page, tap Add to your iPhone.
  2. In the share sheet, tap Use as Ringtone.

Despite the name, this adds the sound to every tone list on your iPhone, including Text Tone. iPhone accepts tones under 30 seconds.

3. Choose it as your text tone

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
  3. Tap Text Tone.
  4. Choose your tone near the top of the list.

Apple's steps are the same for the other alert sounds: tap a sound category such as New Mail, Calendar Alerts or Reminder Alerts instead of Text Tone. To use a different sound for one person, see how to give a contact their own ringtone.

Where Ringtone & Text Tone Maker helps

Ringtone & Text Tone Maker turns any song, video or recording into a tone and keeps it under 30 seconds. It shows these steps inside the app, with a checklist for calls, texts, mail, calendar alerts and reminders. Basic tones are free and unlimited, with no ads.

Ringtone & Text Tone Maker is coming soon to the App Store.

Sources

Steps, quotes and findings in this guide come from these sources, checked on October 8, 2026.