Custom Alarm Sound on Your iPhone: A Quick Guide

Choosing the perfect alarm sound is essential. You want a tone that wakes you up without being overly soothing, which could lead to hitting snooze, or overly jarring, which might set a negative tone for your day. Some of the default sounds on iOS tend to fall into the latter category. Fortunately, customizing your alarm sound on an iPhone is a straightforward process.

If you want to wake up to a specific song, subscribing to Apple Music is the simplest method. With over 100 million tracks available, you can easily select one for your alarm. Start by opening the Apple Music app, searching for your desired song, and tapping the plus (+) icon to add it to your library.

Next, open the Clock app on your iPhone and navigate to the Alarm tab at the bottom. You can either create a new alarm by tapping the plus icon or choose an existing one. From there, select Sound > Pick a song. Locate the song you want to set as your alarm, tap the plus button next to it, then return to the previous screen and either Save or tap the check mark in the top right corner. It’s that simple.

If you wish to utilize a completely unique sound as your alarm, you will need a different approach.

First, you need to obtain the audio file you wish to use as your custom alarm sound. You can download a sound file from the internet or create your own using an app like GarageBand. The most important step is to ensure you save this audio file in the Files app.

Starting with iOS 16, Apple has simplified the process of using a saved audio file as a custom alarm sound. To do this, find the sound in the Files app, press and hold the file, then select Share > Use as Ringtone. If the selected audio is longer than 30 seconds, your iPhone will prompt you to trim it first. This will set your chosen sound as your ringtone, but you can change this back at any time.

Now, open the Clock app. You can either create a new alarm or edit an existing one. Tap on Sound and then select your custom alarm noise. You’re all set! Unless you decide to revert your ringtone, of course.

The addition of the Use as Ringtone option in the iOS 16 share menu allows you to also utilize audio files sent to you through platforms like iMessage or email. For example, you can select a friend’s voice message to use as your alarm. If you’re adventurous, you might even record your own voice using Voice Memos and follow the same Share > Use as Ringtone process to wake up to your own voice.