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Provides: Ringtone creator for iPhone, iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS
Format: Download
Developer: Pocket Mac
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4+, 10MB Free Disk Space
Processor Compatibility: Universal
Price: $29.95
Availability: Now
Version Reviewed: 2.0

Whenever I get a new phone, one of the first things I do is check out what ringtones come built in and listen to each and every one of them before deciding on a favorite. It used to be quite costly to buy a new ringtone of your favorite song, and the quality wasn’t always great. The iPhone is no exception to this, but rather than paying for new ringtones, how about creating your own from your own iTunes library, or any sound or video file for that matter? RingtoneStudio 2 makes it possible and incredibly easy to do, giving you a top quality ringtone before you can spell polyphonic.

RingtoneStudio 2, from PocketMac, is the simplest option for creating ringtones that I’ve so far come across. There are no complex options or editing tools, and even adding the ringtone into iTunes is done for you. The process is a breeze. All you need to do is choose your music or video file, the select which section of the song you’d like and whether you want the ringtone to fade in or out. Once you’ve finished, simply hit “Create” and RingtoneStudio 2 will convert and add the ringtone into iTunes for you to sync over to your iPhone. If the audio or video clip you’re using is less than 30 seconds in length, it will convert to the correct format and add it to iTunes.

The design of RingtoneStudio 2 is pure genius. Think for a moment what you’re creating the ringtones for; your iPhone, right? PocketMac designed their application to look like the iPhone simulator that’s part of the iPhone SDK. When the app launches, you see a larger than life iPhone, with RingtoneStudio 2 running as you would expect an iPhone app to. For that reason, it’s very intuitive to use, as button designs and locations are as you’d expect on a native iPhone application,the only difference is that this is a Mac app. Just to add to the iPhone experience, to close the app, click on the sleep/wake button at the top-right of the iPhone. To return to the opening screen? You guessed it—click the home button.

If you’re looking for a simpler alternative than GarageBand for making your own ringtones for your treasured iPhone, there’s no reason to look any further than PocketMac’s RingtoneStudio 2. It does its job well, and with great design and simplicity. To many users, GarageBand can appear too complex. You should feel right at home with RingtoneStudio 2’s controls, and the ability to automatically add the ringtones straight into iTunes ready to sync takes another thought off your mind.

The price tag of $29.95 may seem a little high for a simple application, but if you want your own ringtones for your iPhone in a way that gives you control with minimum effort, the price is certainly justifiable. For what it’s designed to do, RingtoneStudio 2 does it brilliantly; there’s no faulting that.