How to Customize the Text Message Sounds on Your iPhone

Different tones help you identify messages by sound alone

What to Know

  • To change the default tone: Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Text Tone > tap selected tone.
  • To assign a custom tone to one contact: Select the contact > Edit > Text Tone > desired tone > Done.

This article explains how to select custom tones for text messages on iOS 12 and up. Steps also apply to earlier versions of Apple's mobile operating system but might differ slightly.

How to Change the Default Text Message Tone on iPhone

Every iPhone comes pre-loaded with dozens of text message tones. You can set one as your iPhone's default text tone. Then, every time you get a text message, the text tone will play. To change the default text tone on an iPhone, follow these steps:

  1. On the iPhone home screen, tap the Settings app.

  2. Tap Sounds & Haptics (or Sounds on some older versions).

  3. Tap Text Tone.

  4. Swipe to browse the list of text tones (you can use ringtones as text tones; they're on this screen, too). Tap a tone to hear it play.

    Sound & Haptics, Text Tone, and Chord tone chosen in iOS settings
  5. When you've found the text tone you want to use, tap it so that there's a checkmark next to it. Your choice is automatically saved and that tone is set as your default.

How to Assign Custom Text Message Tones to Individuals

Text tones share a similarity with ringtones: you can assign different tones to each contact in your address book. This gives you greater personalization and a better way to know who's texting you. To assign a custom text tone to a contact:

  1. Select the contact whose text tone you want to change.

    Find the contact in either the Contacts menu in the Phone app or the standalone Contacts address book app; both are built into the iPhone. From your contact list, browse or search for contacts.

  2. Tap Edit.

  3. Tap Text Tone.

  4. Choose a text tone from the list, including the iPhone ringtones and text tones installed with iOS. It also includes custom text and ringtones you added to the phone. Tap a tone to hear it play.

    Edit, Default, and Chosen text tone (Aurora) in iOS contact settings
  5. When you find a text tone you want, tap the tone to place a checkmark next to it, then tap Done (in some versions of iOS, this button is labeled Save).

  6. In the contact screen, tap Done to save the change.

Where to Get New Text Tones and Ringtones for iPhone

If you didn't find a text tone or ringtone on your iPhone that you like, there are ways to add new sounds, including paid and free options:

How to Use Custom Vibrations for Text Tones on iPhone

Sounds aren't the only way to be alerted to a new text message. You can also create specific vibration patterns to use as customized alerts. The iPhone lets you turn off the ringer, silence tones and alerts, and sets the phone to vibrate in certain patterns when you get texts from certain people. Vibration patterns are powered by haptics.

FAQ
  • How do I turn off text notifications for my Mac?

    Open System Preferences and select Notifications > Messages, then turn off Allow Notifications. You can also prevent text messages from appearing on your Mac by removing it from your Apple ID, or not connecting it in the first place.

  • How do I turn off text notifications on my iPhone?

    Open Settings, then select Notifications > Messages and turn off Allow Notifications. From there you can also adjust other text notification settings so that they're less intrusive but not completely disabled.

  • How do I send sounds in a text message on my iPhone?

    To send sounds or other audio over a text message on the iPhone, use the voice message feature.

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