You know, it’s starting to look like that set of App Store Review Guidelines Apple published recently might actually… mean something. Just 8 days after the guidelines went live, Apple blew all kinds of minds by allowing Google Voice apps (which had long been banished) into the store; now, another item seems to have been crossed off the blacklist: Ringtone Makers.
Since the early days of the App Store, applications that allow users to make ringtones from songs on their handsets have either inexplicably sat on hold or were outright denied. And yet, here we are; as of right now, there are no less than 5 different ringtone making apps sitting in the App Store.
While I’m neither one to complain about restrictions being loosened nor one to cry conspiracy over a silly thing like a ringtone maker, the timing is interesting. In 2007, Apple entered the ringtone-sales game, offering people the ability to create ringtones from iTunes-purchased tracks for an additional 99 cents. With the release of iTunes 10 two weeks ago, however, Apple seems to have given up their ringtone endeavors, or at least decided to change up the gameplan; though Apple still mentions ringtones as an iTunes 10 feature, the custom ringtone creator is nowhere to be found.
Of course, there have always been ways to make your own iPhone ringtones (hell, it’s an export option in GarageBand) — this is just the first time that such functionality is available straight on the iPhone. It’s worth noting, however, that creating the ringtone on the iPhone doesn’t mean you don’t need a computer to finish the job. Due to the sandboxed nature of iPhone apps, there’s no way to get ringtones from an application into the iPhone’s ringtone catalog without pulling them off the phone and then syncing them via iTunes. Sort of tarnishes the idea a bit, doesn’t it?
The Ringtone Makers that have hit the App Store so far:
- Best Ringtone Maker (99c, iTunes link)
- Ringtone Designer Pro (99c, iTunes link)
- Music Ringtone Maker (99c, iTunes Link)
- Ringtone Maker Pro (99c, iTunes link)
- Custom Ringtone Maker (99c, iTunes Link)