RingtoniusQuick answer: On iOS 26, make a short audio file (two to five seconds), tap Share › Use as Ringtone to add it to your tone list, then go to Settings › Sounds & Haptics › Text Tone and choose it. Use as Ringtone also sets it as your ringtone, so switch Ringtone back on the same screen if you only want it for messages.
Step 1: Make a short sound
A text tone plays every time a message arrives, so keep it short: a two- to five-second clip with a quick fade at the end. A chunk of a song, a word from a voice memo, or a recorded sound all work. It has to be an MP3 or M4A file stored on your iPhone.
Step 2: Add it to your tones
Open the file in the Files app (or the recording in Voice Memos), tap Share, scroll down and tap Use as Ringtone. Settings opens with it set as your ringtone, and it now appears in your list of tones.
Step 3: Choose it as your text tone
- Go to Settings › Sounds & Haptics.
- Tap Text Tone and pick your new sound near the top of the list.
- Tap back, tap Ringtone, and choose your usual ringtone again if you don’t want this sound for calls.
Give one person their own text tone
Open Contacts, choose the person, tap Edit, then Text Tone. Pick your custom sound. Messages from them now sound different from everyone else’s, so you know who it is without looking.
On iOS 18 or earlier
Make the tone in GarageBand and use Share › Ringtone › Export, then Use sound as › Standard Text Tone. See how to make a ringtone on iPhone for the full GarageBand steps.