Your Treo smartphone includes a number of built-in ringtones for these applications:
- Phone
- Known Caller
- Unknown Caller
- Roaming
- Voicemail
- Messaging (text, picture and video messaging)
- Calendar
- Initial alarm
- Reminder alarms
- Some third-party applications that leverage the "MIDI Ring Tones" database (Example: Sprint Business Connection)
Note: The alert sounds used by VersaMail, Tasks and World Clock use a different ringtone database which cannot be modified without third-party utilities. The information in this article does not apply to these alerts.
What do you want to do?
Change your ringtone
Whether you only use the built-in ringtones, or your have added more (details below), it's easy to change from one ringtone to another.
Changing the ringtone for Phone, Messaging or Calendar
The built-in applications have a one-stop shop for switching tones.
- Press Applications Launcher
.
- Launch the Prefs application.
- Under the General heading, select Sound & Alerts.
- On the Sounds & Alerts preferences screen, choose an application from the pick list at the top of the screen.
- To change the tones that play, tap on the Tones box for each application.
Changing the ringtone in Sprint Business Connection
This third-party sofware is offered by Sprint PCS. It uses the same "MIDI Ring Tones" database as the other applications, but uses a different interface for changing ringtones.
- On your handheld, launch Sprint Business Connection.
- Press Menu
.
- From the Settings menu, select Preferences.
- Select the tab for Alerts.
- Check the box for Audible Notification, and select an alert volume and ringtone from the pick lists.
Changing the ringtone in other third-party software
Because third-party software usually has its own way of changing ringtones, refer to the documentation that came with the third-party sofware. Keep in mind that some third-party software may use its own alerts, and not get its tones from the "MIDI Ring Tones" file. When in doubt, contact the developer to see how you can switch ringtones or if it's possible to add more.
Add voice recorder ringtones
Not available on Sprint Treo 650 version
This section talks about creating voice recorder messages for ringtones, a format best suited for voice clips rather than music.
Voice recorder ringtones are recorded using your smartphone's built-in voice recorder. It's an ideal way to add alerts like "Larry, pick up the phone!" or "You have an appointment" to your repertoire. This feature is not available in the Sprint version of the Treo 650 smartphone.
To add a voice recorder ringtone:
- Press Applications Launcher .
- Launch the Prefs application.
- Under the General heading, select Sound & Alerts.
- Treo 700p and 650 only: Tap on the Tones box near the top of the screen.
- At the bottom of the screen, select Manage...
- At the bottom of the Manage Sound screen, select New.
- The Recorder dialog appears. Tap the button to begin recording, and tap it again to stop. Be sure to hold your smartphone more than 12 inches (0.3 meters) from the sound source for optimal recording.
- On the next screen, you can review your recording, and select Done when you're satisfied.
Voice recorder ringtones do not work as Caller ID Ringtones
Please note, you cannot assign voice recorder ringtones to Favorites as Caller ID Ringtones. If you do assign a voice recorder ringtone, you will hear the Default ringtone whenever that person calls you.
Tech tip: Instead of being in MIDI format (see below), voice recorder ringtones are captured in QCELP (Sprint PCS version) or AMR (GSM versions) format. They will still appear in the same list as MIDI ringtones, and the format isn't really important unless you try to send a QCELP or AMR ringtone to a third-party phone that doesn't support that format.
Converting other files to AMR (GSM version only): You may be tempted to use the voice recorder as a low-fi way to capture musical ringtones (such as holding the microphone 12 inches from your stereo while music is playing). We recommend against doing this, as the voice recorder is optimized for plain voice only. Instead, you may wish to dowload a third-party utility that converts MP3 or WAV files into AMR format. Once you've converted the music to AMR, you can transfer the file to your smartphone using any of the methods for adding a MIDI ringtone to your device (see below). The third-party utility is called Nokia Multimedia Converter 2.0.
Use MP3 files as ringtones
Your Treo smartphone doesn't include built-in software to allow MP3 files to be used as ringtones.
But you may be able to add this capability to your smartphone through a third-party ringtone manager. Search the Software Connection for options. Beware: Some ringtone managers can cause odd behavior, such as crash or reset when an incoming call arrives. Be cautious when installing this type of software, and if your smartphone has problems after you install the ringtone manager, delete it and contact the third-party developer for help.
Add MIDI ringtones
If you want to expand your horizons, you can add musical ringtones to your Treo smartphone by downloading them from websites or receiving them via email, messaging or Bluetooth wireless technology.
The MIDI Ring Tones database
The musical ringtones you hear on your Treo smartphone are produced by MIDI files (with the exception of voice recorder files, above). All ringtones are stored in a single database called MIDI Ring Tones. Whenever you receive a new MIDI file (from a web page, an email, a message or a Bluetooth connection), it will automatically be stored in the MIDI Ring Tones database. MIDI is a very common file format which is widely available on the web.
Note: Please remember, Palm does not provide technical support for third-party products, including the ringtones mentioned below. If you need assistance using a MIDI file as a ringtone, please consult the MIDI file's author or vendor. Also, please respect copyright restrictions; if a file is copyrighted, do not use it without permission.
How do I get a MIDI file onto my smartphone?
The Treo smartphone offers several ways to transfer a MIDI file to your device. Before you begin, make sure the MIDI file is not larger than 64KB.
- Download from a web page: Downloadable ringtones are becoming very popular, and mobile service providers and individuals are offering websites where you can grab MIDI ringtones with a few clicks. Sometimes the ringtones are free, and sometimes you pay a small fee to download.
Use the built-in Web browser on your smartphone to navigate to the download site. When you've decided on a ringtone, you can download it directly to your smartphone. (Note that if your data plan charges on a per-kilobyte basis, you might want to use one of the alternate methods below)
- Email it to yourself: Using your desktop computer, visit any ringtone site, download the MIDI file, and email it to yourself. On your Treo smartphone, use VersaMail to retrieve the email with the MIDI file attachment. When you download the attachment, the MIDI file will automatically be added to the MIDI Ring Tones database. This method might be preferable when you're exploring ringtone web sites that include a lot of bells and whistles that could hinder speed and performance on your Treo smartphone's web browser.
- Send it via Bluetooth wireless technology: Your Treo smartphone includes Bluetooth technology for file transfer, which works conveniently with a Bluetootn-enabled PC. Using your desktop computer, visit the ringtone site, download the ringtone, and send it via Bluetooth to your smartphone. This is a great method if your mobile data plan charges you by the kilobyte.
Need more details about Bluetooth file transfer from a PC? Visit article 14545.
- Send it via infrared (IR): If your laptop computer has an IR port, you can send any MIDI file from your PC to your Treo smartphone. Make sure the Treo's IR port is lined up. Note that infrared file transfer is rather slow compared to other methods, so expect to spend a few minutes if you're transferring a large MIDI file.
- Copy it to an SD expansion card: This method is a bit tricker than the others, so don't try it unless you're comfortable with file structures. You'll need a USB SD card reader for your PC. First, download the MIDI file to your desktop computer, and transfer the file to the SD card, making a mental note of its location on the card. Insert the SD card in your Treo smartphone, and launch the Web browser (don't worry, you don't need an active Internet connection to do this, and no kilobytes are taken out of your mobile data plan). In the web address bar, enter the location of the MIDI file in this format:
file:///(folder)/(yourmidifile.mid)
- file:/// - enter this text exactly — including three forward slashes
- (folder) - the folder where you stored the MIDI file
- / - use a forward slash to indicate folder contents
- (yourmidifile.mid) - the filename of the MIDI file
An example address would be file:///MyMIDIfiles/BestRingtoneEver.mid. Once the address is entered, hit Go, and the file will be transferred to the MIDI Ring Tones database.
Learn about MIDI
If you won't be composing ringtones, and you don't care about the technical details of MIDI on your Treo smartphone, ignore these sections.
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It's a way to play music without actually playing back a whole recorded performance. A digital synthesizer reads the MIDI file (like a player piano) and assigns pre-specified instruments to play each part on-the-fly. The digital synthesizer can range from a big expensive piece of freestanding musical equipment, down to the small simple synthesizer that's built into your Treo smartphone.
There's not enough space here to talk about MIDI in further detail, but many websites can help you learn more:
You may already be familiar with the MIDI format. If so, here are the bare facts about Treo smartphones' MIDI implementation.
- Treo 700p, 680, and 650 smartphones support the General MIDI standard with up to 16 simultaneous voices
- All General MIDI instruments are supported
- Treo 700p, 680, and 650 smartphones can handle MIDI Format 0, 1 and 2 (Format 2 will only handle the subset related to General MIDI, without the extensions)
Create your own MIDI ringtones
To create unique ringtones for your smartphone, you'll need to compose the ringtones on your desktop computer.
Desktop MIDI sequencers
To create MIDI files, you need MIDI sequencer software. These abound on the web, ranging from simple freeware pieces to complex software suites. A good "starter" application is Melody Assistant from Myriad (shareware). Check out shareware sites like Download.com for more.
Once you've created the perfect ringtone, transfer it to your Treo smartphone using one of the methods above.
