This is another annoying restriction set by Apple, which only let’s you choose an SMS Tone from several different options. On the plus side, it is possible to customize them yourself, but it’s a lot of work for such a simple task.

Before we start, let’s prepare everything we need. You’re going to need to jailbreak your iPhone. If you don’t know how to do this, you can find out in the iPhone Jailbreaking Guide. You’re also going to need a few programs installed on your computer. You need WavePad and WinSCP.

Once you have your iPhone jailbroken, you need to install OpenSSH, to allow us to access the key iPhone files. Open the Cydia application, click Manage and then Sources, and add a new source with the URL:

http://i.freemyiphone.com

This will let us download OpenSSH to the iPhone. Go into Search and type in OpenSSH, and install it. Restart the iPhone.

The next simple task is to open WinSCP. Once the software has opened, you will be asked for an IP Address, a Username and a Password. This is all we need to fill in.

To get the IP Address, go onto your iPhone –> Settings –> WiFi –> Click the blue arrow next to the connected network and you’ll see the IP Address. It may be something like 192.168.1.7.

Type this IP Address into WinSCP, and then use the other details below:

Username: root
Password: alpine

Try to connect. In some cases, it won’t work. Just keep retrying and you’ll get in eventually. Sometimes it takes a while for OpenSSH to start on the iPhone, so you can wait a while before you start if you wish.

Please note that your computer and your iPhone MUST be connected to the same network to do this.

Once you’re logged in, you need to navigate to the correct folder. You need to be in /System/Library/Audio/UISounds. This is where the SMS tones are.

With this method, you’re going to need to replace one of the existing SMS tones. This is the only way to get it working. The SMS sound files all start with sms-received and then a number, and then a file extension of .caf. For example, sms-received2.caf. Now it’s time to create your own custom sound.

Open the software you installed earlier, WavePad. With this program, you need to open the sound file that you want to use. With WavePad, you can alter the sound as you wish, but what you should do to start with is to shorten the sound file so that it’s only a few seconds in length at the latest. Once you’re happy with the sound file, you need to convert it through WavePad. Click “File” and then “Save File As”. The type of file we need is “Apple AIFF”.

Once the file has saved correctly, navigate to the file in Windows Explorer. You’re going to need to change the file name from what it is now (With the .aif extension) to sms-received2.caf. If you can’t change the extension, then it’s because you have file extensions set to hide in Windows.

You can change this by going into “Tools” –> “Folder Options” –> “View” –> Uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”.

Now what you should have is your sound file called sms-received2.caf. You converted it to a .aif file previously, but now it’s a .caf file.

This is all the preparation we need. Simply go back into WinSCP and drag the new sms-received2.caf file into the iPhone, replacing the old one. Once it’s transferred, if you go into Settings –> Sounds –> New Text Message, you will see that if you play the tune “Chime”, it will play your tune instead. Set “Chime” as your tone and that’s it completed. Your custom tune is set.

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