As promised in my recent review of the iPhone 3G, I come to you with a simple and more importantly free way of getting free ringtones for the iPhone 3G. Some of you may have tried the renaming a music file of the appropriate length to M4R no longer works. If so then this method is guaranteed to - at least until Apple fixes the loophole.

Here is my solution: Download iRinger. Unzip the file and run it. Three simple buttons to make your job easy, there is even a fade in / out option. Click Import , select the MP3 file that you want and make sure you use the best 30 seconds of the song. Its simple enough all you need to do is grab the display and move it till it reaches the point from where you want it to begin.

Preview it, it plays the song for the next 30 seconds from the point you selected. Add the fade effects if you so wish and hit export. Make sure the option to export to iTunes is selected. The software takes care of everything else. All you now need to do is select ringtones in iTunes and drag and drop the file that you created onto your iPhone. Next head to settings, sounds and choose the custom ringtone that you have transferred. Thats it!

I do recommend grabbing several tones while you still can since Apple will definitely be plugging this hole as soon as possible. While iRinger is free, the job is well done so at the very least please do donate to the creator.

The iRinger (2.2.0.0) is working fine with the latest firmware on the iPhone 3G and the latest edition of iTunes (7.7.0.43). You DO NOT need to have your iPhone jailbroken or hacked or unlocked in order to use this method. It works, is fast and easy. You do not need to purchase the ringtone or the original song from Apple iTunes - it works fine on any song present on your hard disk. And no, I have not been paid to advertise this product. It was after several failed attempts that I came across this software. The following video makes the aforementioned process easier.

Basic How-To:

Some Advanced techniques that you could also use: