How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

For the vast majority of people, we would categorise our contacts in two major buckets: people we talk to all the time, and the people we keep in our address book just in case. Setting a custom ringtone for significant others is the best way to identify an important call or message, even when your phone is in your purse or pants.

The process of doing this is a pretty straight-forward across all three major platforms, but it is a laborious, manual process.

How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

iPhone

  1. Go to the Contacts app (which may be hidden in an automatically created folder) and select on a person’s name.
  2. In their contact details, press Edit in the top right corner.
  3. Scroll down until you see Ringtone and Vibration. Tap on either option to select which sound plays and the pattern of vibration for when this contact calls.
  4. Below this, you can repeat the process for messages, by select Text Tone and Vibration.

Note: once you have set up a custom tone or vibration you can adjust it directly from the contact's page

How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

Android

This process varies slightly depending on the phone’s manufacturer and the software installed. Samsung's Contact app pictured above.

  1. Go to the People app (also may be labelled Contacts) and select a contact
  2. In contact details, hit the Menu button (three vertical dots in the top-right corner) and choose Edit (this step may be unnecessary on your phone)
  3. Scroll down until you see Ringtone. Tap it and select a tone to play when they call.
Google Hangouts
  1. Select the name of a contact or choose an active Hangout (can be a group)
  2. Go to the Menu (three vertical dots) and choose ‘People & options’
  3. Change the message and video calling tone for that person or group

How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

Windows Phone

  1. Go to People Hub
  2. Select your contact from the list
  3. Enter edit mode by pressing on the pencil-shaped icon on the task bar at the bottom of the screen
  4. In here you can set up custom sounds for the Ringtone and Text tone, plus you can personalise notifications for any active email accounts

    Android allows you to set a ringtone for specific contact or even a group. Rather than having one ringtone for all your calls, you can set unique ringtones or music to each contact to easily identify their calls and better organize your contacts.

    You should notice that the process of setting custom ringtones may vary slightly between OEMs and their respective flavors of Android. In this guide, I’ll show how to assign custom ringtones on Stock Android devices such as Google Nexus and Pixel as well as Samsung’s Touchwiz – you should be able to get the concept from there if you’re using other Android skins.

    Method 1: Using Stock Android

    1. From the app drawer, open the Contacts app.
      How to set a specific ringtone for a contact
    2. Tap any contact from the list.
      How to set a specific ringtone for a contact
    3. Tap Option > Set ringtone.
      How to set a specific ringtone for a contact
    4. Choose a tone from the list of ringtones provided and then tap OK.

    To assign a custom ringtone to a contact, copy the music file to the ringtones folder on your internal storage.

    Everyone likes to know who’s calling before they actually pick up the phone, and the easiest way to achieve that is with custom ringtones for specific callers. That way, when your phone starts blasting “Cherry Pie,” you know it’s your wife. Or when it’s “Roll Out (My Business),” you know it’s your boss. Fortunately, this is a simple process in Android. Here’s how to do it.

    Before we get started, you should be aware that the process may vary slightly between manufacturers and their respective custom skins. There’s no possible way we can show how to do it on every phone out there, but I’ll show how to do it on stock Android, Samsung, and LG devices—you should be able to at least get the idea from there.

    So, let’s get started.

    How to Set Contact Ringtones on Stock (or Near-Stock) Android

    You can do this from either the Phone or Contacts apps—since Contacts is essentially an extension of the dialer, they both ultimately end up in the same place anyway.

    The first thing you’ll want to do is open either of the above-mentioned apps and find the contact you’d like to set a custom ringtone for. In this case, I’ll be setting a tone for my good friend Barack Obama. We go way back.

    Just tap the little pencil icon to open the “Edit contact” menu. From there, tap on the three-dot overflow menu in the top right corner.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact
     
    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    You see the option that reads “Set ringtone”? Yeah, that’s the one we’re looking for. Give it a tap.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    This will open the Ringtones menu, where you can choose whichever tone you’d like for that contact. I happen to know for a fact that Barack is a huge metalhead, so I’m going to use In Flames’ “Through Oblivion” for his tone. He’ll love that.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    After that, just hit the check mark next to the overflow menu.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    And we’re done. Can’t wait for the next call I get from good ol’ B-rock.

    How to Set Contact Ringtones on Samsung Galaxy Devices

    On Samsung phones, you can use either the Phone or Contacts app to get the job done. Open the one of your choosing (I’m using Phone because that just makes sense) and navigate to your contact. I’ve been meaning to set a custom tone for my girl Katy Perry for a while now, so I might as well do it now. She blows my phone up like you wouldn’t believe.

    Once you’ve opened the Phone (or Contacts) app, navigate to your contact, tap the “Edit” button in the top right.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    From there, hit the “More” button, then scroll all the way to the bottom.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    Tap the “Ringtone” option. I think I’ll assign Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” to Katy, because that just seems like the right thing to do here.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact
    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    Once you’ve selected your ringtone, tap the “Save” option at the top.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    And that’s that. Too bad Katy will never hear her ringtone when she calls me.

    How to Set Contact Ringtones on LG Devices

    I’m using an LG V10 here, but it should be pretty much the same process (if not identical) on all other modern LG devices, too. And guess what? You can do this from the Phone or Contacts app on LG phones, just like all the others. Seeing a pattern here?

    This time, I’ll be hooking my buddy Michael Jordan up with a custom ringtone. I’m a pretty busy guy, so I want to know when it’s MJ giving me a ring.

    Once you’ve opened the Phone or Contacts app and navigated to the contact you want to edit, hit the little pencil icon in the top right to open up the “Edit contact” menu.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    Scroll all the way down. At the bottom of this page, there are two options: Ringtone and Notification sound. You can all sorts of custom action here.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    My boy MJ rocked the 23 on his chest for many years, so it’s only fair to set his ringtone accordingly—23 from Mike Will Made-It seems to fit the bill perfectly.

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    When you’re finished, hit “OK.” Then hit “Save.”

    How to set a specific ringtone for a contact

    That’s it. Done and done.


    Setting custom ringtones in Android is a pretty straightforward and simple process. And once you’ve mastered the art of creating ringtones from your favorite songs, the possibilities are endless. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to create a few more contacts for people I pretend to know.

    How do I set a custom ringtone on my iPhone for one contact?

    Set a ringtone or text tone for a contact.
    Open the Contacts app and tap a person's name..
    In the upper-right corner of the person's contact card, tap Edit..
    Tap Ringtone or Text Tone, then choose a new sound..