Apple playing cat and mouse with ringtone fans?

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 18 September 2007 10:05

Your IT - Mobility

Recent software updates are making it more difficult for iPhone owners to use whatever ringtone they choose.

Two new versions of iTunes - 7.4.1 and 7.4.2 - have appeared this month, both interfering with methods previously used to put custom ringtones onto the iPhone.

Ironically, the stated purpose of 7.4.2 was to address "an issue with creating ringtones using iTunes Plus song purchases". iTunes Plus tracks are not encumbered with DRM.

Ambrosia Software has released version 1.0.1 of its $US15 iToner utility providing compatibility with iTunes 7.4.1 and 7.4.2 along with other improvements including support for dragging files directly from iTunes. Version 1.0.1 is free to registered users.

While Ringtonator (which exploits the open-source AtomicParsley MPEG-4 metadata editor) was successfully updated to cope with iTunes 7.4.1, it has yet to catch up with 7.4.2.

Version 1.2 of Rogue Amoeba's MakeiPhoneRingTone fixes a bug that stopped it working with iTunes libraries that had been moved from the default location, but the program does not work with iTunes 7.4.2. "We're researching this and hope to have an update to restore compatibility. In the meantime, we recommend sticking with iTunes 7.4.1," said company officials.

It is not clear at this stage whether Apple is deliberately making things difficult for people to use ringtones that they did not purchase from the iTunes Store, or if these issues are merely side-effects of changes make to make the official ringtone process more robust.