If you don't like the alert sounds that came with that new app you just downloaded, they're actually pretty easy to change—and you don't even need to jailbreak your phone. Here's how to do it.
Note that unfortunately, this only works with non-Apple apps that use their own alert tones. If the app is using a tone that came with the iPhone (like Google Voice's app does), you'll need to be jailbroken to change it. Jailbreaking isn't that hard though, so if you haven't given it a shot, try it out and download previously mentioned PushTone to make the entire process super simple. If you don't want to jailbreak, here's how to change an alert tone.
Download and install iExplorer. This program will let you browse your iPhone's file system and change the files contained within, including the custom alert tones that come bundled within each app.
Plug your iOS device into your computer and start up iExplorer. It may take a second to start up, so just let it sit while it loads.
Find the app whose notification you want to change in the left sidebar and double-click on it. Head into the sub-folder with the app's name. For example, if we're looking to change Sparrow's notification sound, you'd go into
com.sparrowmailapp.iphoneapp/Sparrow.app.Scroll through the list of files until you find the file you want with a
.caffile extension. These are going to be the notification sounds the app uses. Find the one you want to change, and note its filename.Next, find the file you want to use as the tone for that app. You can either get these online, take them from another app, or make your own using software like Audacity. Whatever you do, make sure its in the same format as the tone you're replacing. If the tone you're replacing is in
.aifformat, just convert your new tone to.aifusing your audio converter of choice. If it's in.caf, convert your tone to.aifand change the file extension to.caf.Rename your desired tone so its filename matches the one you want to replace. Then, just drag it into iExplorer to replace the app's default tone. You should get a prompt asking if you want to delete the original. Click OK to confirm.
Lastly, remove your device and close iExplorer. You should find that your app now uses your new tone!
You'll want to keep your customized tones on your computer somewhere for safekeeping, since the app will replace them with the defaults whenever it updates. It isn't the easiest solution, but it's pretty nice to have the option if you don't want to jailbreak. Check out the video above to see the tutorial step-by-step.
Photo remixed from VikaSuh.