It’s pretty awesome how similar the 1989 Batman and the new Dark Knight trailers are. Check ‘em out side-by-side:

So you’ve had your iPhone for a few days and you really like it. Great. How do you like those ringtones? Not so much? Me neither. While they’re vibrant and loud, they’re just not good. When someone calls me, I don’t want it to sound like they’re calling a church or a cricket; I want it to sound like me. Here, I’ll show you how to make it sound like you.

Before we go any further, you’ll need to download and install iPhoneBrowser onto your computer. What exactly does iPhoneBrowser do? Simply put, it lets you view the files on your iPhone. More importantly, it allows you to add files - specifically, in this instance, ringtones. Once you have downloaded and installed iPhoneBrowser, come back here to continue.

There are actually a few ways to make iPhone ringtones. You can either do it online; on your desktop; or straight from your iPhone. The easiest way, which I’ll show you here, is online. (Unless you’d rather pay 99¢ per track. Yeah, I didn’t think so.) First, go to Audiko.net (not .com). From there, you’ll use the form on the main page to upload a track that you would like to use. Once it’s uploaded, just move the sliders positions to the beginning and end of your desired ringtone area. Make sure your chosen timespan is less than 30 seconds, as the iPhone may not be able to use it if it’s longer.

Here’s an example of a ringtone of “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” by Tomoyasu Hotei:

Now that your ringtone is made, you need to get it to your iPhone. On your computer, create a new folder specifically for ringtones such as My Documents\Ringtones. In Audiko, click the link to “Download ringtone for iPhone” and save this M4R file to the Ringtones folder on your computer. Open up iPhoneBrowser and go to the Ringtones folder on the iPhone. It’s easy to find - just check the Goto Location tab at the top of the window:

It’s just basic drag-and-drop to get your ringtone from the Ringtones folder on your computer to the folder on your iPhone. Lastly, on your iPhone go to Settings > Sounds > Ringtone, and you should see your newly created ringtone in the list.

Like I said, there are other methods of making iPhone ringtones. However, they’re not as easy and are a bit more time consuming. Still, if you’re looking for something that will work offline (rather than having to upload your track to Audiko) then I would suggest looking into ToneShop or iRinger. If you’re really anal, or would like to do some more complicated audio editing like cutting sections out and blending, then give Audacity a spin. With Audacity, you can create an edited MP3 and then you’ll need to use something like iRinger to convert that to an M4R (iPhone ringtone format).

In addition to the desktop applications, there’s an app available via Installer called Ringtones (original, eh?) that will take tracks from your Library and convert it to a ringtone. It works - that’s not to say that it works very well, but it works - and I hope it’ll be improved upon in the future. The main issues I’ve experienced are that the user interface is a little awkward, and if you’re half-way through converting a track and happen to go reply to a text message, Ringtones forgets everything you just did so you have to start all over. Annoying. Also, choosing the start and end points for the ringtone via Ringtones is about as intuitive as spreading peanut butter and jelly with a rolling pin - it can be done, but there should be an easier way.

Stay tuned for Part 4 in this series. Feel free to subscribe to the Dean(ish) feed.

[Required reading: Part 1: Freedom]

Now that your iPhone is jailbroken, you can add more functionality by installing some sweet third-party applications to make your iPhone even more useful. This is a list of applications (available via Installer) that I use and recommend. If you have favorites of your own, please add them to the comments!

• BSD Subsystem and Lighttpd: You’ll need both of these apps installed before you’ll be able to install anything else. Install these immediately. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

  Ready? Right, then continue on with the rest of this list.

• MobileTwitter: I’m new to Twitter, and this app makes it really handy to add new posts while on the go. Since I haven’t been blogging here on Dean(ish) nearly as much as I used to, it’s nice to have an easy mobile solution.
• ShopList: You can use this app to make lists. You can have several different lists, each with their own items. Once you’ve picked up the item, you can check it off and it moves from a Need list to a Have list, which is pretty cool.
• Snapture: This is a replacement for the default Camera app. Snapture adds a few more options, including zoom and burst mode.
• Garf: It’s Simon for your iPhone.
• iSolitaire: It’s freakin’ solitaire. If you don’t like solitaire, I’ll punch you.
• Lights Off: Like Lights Out, but less copyrighted.
• Pool: Pretty cool billiards game.
• Tris: The best iPhone Tetris clone I’ve played yet.
• TTR: Tap Tap Revolution is frickin’ awesome. It takes songs from your library and lets you play ‘em like DDR, but with your fingers.
• Yeti3D: It’s like Doom, but it can be controlled by the iPhone’s accelerometer which is pretty damn amazing.
• Dashbuster: If you subscribe to Blockbuster’s mail-in dealy, you can manage your queue with this app. There’s an app for Netflix too, if that’s your bag.
• SummerBoard: Allows you to use custom themes, rather than the plain ol’ black Apple theme. You can find themes in Installer under Install > Themes (SummerBoard). (Note: Not all themes in the Themes (SummerBoard) folder are compatible with all firmware versions.)
• Wallpaper: Allows you to change the wallpaper.
• Make It Mine: Allows you to change the “AT&T” text at the top of the screen to your own text.
• WildEyes!: This file explorer lets you browse the contents of your iPhone right from the iPhone itself. (A later edition of this Maximize Your iPhone series will discuss how to browse your iPhone from your PC.)

Something else that I’ll add isn’t actually for an app to download via Installer, but it’s something equally as nifty: Orb. You can use Orb to stream media content from your computer to another computer, to your Wii, and now even to your iPhone. Assuming you have Orb installed and operational on your PC, just open up Safari on your iPhone; go to mycast.orb.com; and add the page as a shortcut on your home screen. When you use Orb, you’ll notice that the Orb team has put a great deal of effort into making a really slick iPhone interface for their product - it looks and acts just like a native iPhone application.

If there are any apps that I’ve missed then please feel free to include them in the comments below. Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series, which will talk about making custom ringtones.