Custom phone app android

How to add custom ringtones and sounds to your Android phone

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Don’t like your launcher? Pick out a new one from among the best Android launchers. Don’t like your garishly gray keyboard? Change it up! Got the same ringtone as that annoying coworker at the other end of the room? Just don’t like the lame, old sounds that came with your sweet, new phone? No problem! We have options aplenty for Android sounds these days, and once you get the hang of these tools, the world is your ringtone. Whether you need to find that sweet new sound or just need to know how to add a custom ringtone to your Android phone, we have you covered!

Let awesome ring.

How to find and set ringtones through the Zedge app

There’s a lot of places to find ringtones, but far and away, the easiest is Zedge. Zedge is a customization app that looks to personalize your phone in a number of ways, but most notably with its Ringtone and Wallpaper galleries. Zedge even streamlines the process, letting you download and set your ringtone from the same screen! I will admit the ads on Zedge have gotten a bit much over the years, but if you like to change your ringtone every few weeks, you can shell out for the ad-free upgrade.

Browsing the app is a simple affair; you can browse by category or search for something specific. Once you find a ringtone in the app you like, here’s how to set it:

1. Tap the Set in the middle of the ringtone’s details screen.
2. Tap Set Ringtone.

Tap Allow to allow Zedge to download the ringtone to your phone’s storage.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Tap the back button to return to Zedge.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

You’ll see a toast notification at the bottom of the screen telling you the ringtone has been applied. If you wish to set a ringtone to a specific contact or as your notification tone, you can select those options from the same Set menu.

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How to manually add a ringtone file to the Ringtones folder

If you already have a cool, custom ringtone you just need to add to your phone, then you’ll need a file manager app to get it into the Ringtones folder. Now, some phones have good file managers on them out of the box, but if not, you’ll need to download one from the Google Play Store; for our steps, we’re using Solid Explorer.

1. Long-press your custom ringtone in the Downloads folder (or whichever local folder you downloaded it to). After long-pressing the first ringtone, you can tap more ringtones if you wish to copy multiple sounds at once.
2. Tap the Copy icon ( two documents stacked on top of each other).
3. Swipe in from the left edge of the screen to open the location menu. (If you’re using Android 10 gestures, turn your phone horizontal to get two tabs, the left window will be your source folder, and the right folder you can navigate to the Ringtones folder.)

Tap Internal Memory.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Tap Paste.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

On some phones, the Settings app will see the new ringtones immediately, but if yours doesn’t, reboot the phone. Upon reboot, the new ringtones should appear in the list of available ringtones in the Sounds menu.

How to set a custom ringtone in Settings

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap the Sounds section. If you don’t see a section with Sound in the title, type «Ringtone» into the search bar at the top of your Settings app.

Tap Phone ringtone.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Tap Save or OK. If you do not see these options on your device, simply tap the back button to exit the ringtone picker.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

If your custom ringtone has been properly set, you will see its name underneath the Phone ringtone.

How to apply a custom ringtone to a contact

By giving each of your most-used contacts a unique ringtone, you can tell who is calling without having to scramble across the room and grab your phone off the charger. This is useful at all times, but especially during work hours, when answering personal calls can earn you a reprimand, but missing a client call could slow down your progress.

1. Open Contacts.
2. Tap the contact you wish to set a custom ringtone for.

Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Tap Save or OK. If you do not see these options on your device, simply tap the back button to exit the ringtone picker.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

How to set a custom notification sound in Settings

You didn’t settle for a default ringtone, so why would you settle for a default notification tone? If you already have a text tone you like — I have about ten I’ll cycle through myself — you can add them to the Notifications folder just as we added our custom ringtones to the Ringtones folder. From there, the process should seem familiar by now.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Sound. This menu may be named differently depending on your phone, with possible names being Sound and Display, Personalization, etc.

Tap Default notification sound.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Tap Save or OK. If you do not see these options on your device, simply tap the back button to exit the sound picker.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

If your custom notification sound has been properly set, you will see its name underneath the Default notification sound.

Your turn

What awesome custom ringtones are you adding to your Android phone? I’m partial to Disney fireworks music, but Star Wars blaster and lightsaber sounds are pretty fun, too. Share your most outrageous and hilarious ringtones in the comments!

Updated December 2020: We’ve spruced up this guide to keep things as current and clear as possible. Happy ringtone hunting!

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How to Install a Custom ROM on your Android Phone to give it a fresh new look!

Every smartphone comes with a default ROM or UI pre-installed. It can be AOSP-based with not a lot of added features, more commonly referred to as Stock Android, or it can be a custom skin from a particular brand. Samsung phones, for example, use a custom UX based on Android called OneUI. Xiaomi phones use MIUI, Oppo uses ColorOS, OnePlus uses OxygenOS, etc. Every UI looks different and has a different set of features.

While some may like a certain UI or skin, others may not. Some users prefer a feature-rich interface with the ability to install themes and modify system elements while some may want a clean, simple experience with no frills. This is where installing a custom Android ROM comes into the picture.

A custom ROM essentially replaces the stock ROM or skin on your phone with the one you choose to install. For example, if you have a Xiaomi or Redmi phone running on MIUI but you don’t like the interface, you can install a custom ROM that will change the UI to stock Android or something else you like.

There are multiple benefits to installing a custom Android ROM. If the UI you’re currently using has a lot of ads or bloatware, you can install a custom ROM to get rid of them. If your phone’s OEM has stopped updating your device and you’re stuck on an older Android version, you can use a custom ROM based on a newer version of Android. If you like a different OEM’s UI and want to try it on your phone, you can install a custom ROM.

Now that you know what a custom ROM can do, let’s tell you how you can install it on your Android phone. Note that there’s no universal custom ROM, although Project Treble somewhat materialized it by introducing the concept of the Generic System Image (GSI). While it is possible to install a GSI sprinkled with all the goodies from your favorite custom ROM, keep in mind that it may not offer you the same level of stability and performance that you can get from a fine-tuned dedicated custom ROM for your device. So with all of this being said, you’ll have to install a ROM that’s specifically made for your phone. Failing to do so may result in bricking your phone. You’ll then have to find ways to recover it or take it to the service center.

Note: Installing a custom ROM can void the warranty on some devices since it involves unlocking the bootloader. Proceed with caution as you can cause temporary/permanent damage to your device if you don’t follow all the steps correctly.

Sometimes, installation instructions can have some variations depending on your device. These are generic instructions. Please double-check with your device forums for variations.

Pre-requisites to Install a Custom ROM

There are certain things you need before you can start installing a custom Android ROM on your phone. Let’s go over all of them so your device is ready for the installation process.

• An Android device.
• An unlocked bootloader (if you don’t know how to unlock the bootloader of your phone, head over to the XDA Forums and search for your device name followed by “unlock bootloader” and you’ll find a guide. The process is different for every phone so make sure you follow the one specifically meant for your device.)
• A custom recovery: TWRP is a good option, you can follow our detailed guide to install TWRP on your phone. However, some custom ROMs have specific recommendations on the recovery you need to use, so please follow that if such instructions are present.
• A custom ROM zip file that you want to install (again, head over to the XDA Forums and search for your device, go through all the available ROMs, and choose the one you want to install.)
  • Please note again that custom ROM installation instructions can and do vary by device and ROM. If your ROM of choice comes with its own instructions, please follow them instead of this guide. This guide is a general list of instructions and does not take into account any special device instructions.
• GApps or Google Apps.
• A little bit of patience.

How to Install a Custom ROM

Now you have everything ready to install a custom ROM, we can begin the process.

Step 0: Back up your data

There’s one more thing you need to do before starting the installation though, and that’s to make a backup of all your data. We have a detailed guide to help you back up every aspect of your phone’s data so make sure you do that so it’s easy to restore your data once you install a new ROM.

Step 1: Downloading the correct ROM

As we mentioned earlier, the best way to do this is to head over to the XDA Forums for your device and look for a ROM that best suits your needs. Custom ROMs are device-specific so download a ROM that’s made specifically for your device. Also, there can be multiple variants of the same device based on carrier, region, etc. so keep this in mind too. Locate the appropriate custom ROM for your exact device. If you’re not sure, ask about compatibility in the XDA Forums.

Once you’ve found the ROM you want to install, download the zip file either on your computer or on your phone. Note that you will need to data wipe your phone in some of the later steps, so it is advisable to do the file transfer later on, after the data wipe — but ensure that your phone can connect to your computer and can receive files, just to be clear that your device drivers are in place. Later on, you will need to copy the ROM file to the root of your phone’s internal storage. Don’t extract the zip file.

Step 2: Downloading GApps or Google Apps

Custom ROMs do not come with Google’s apps and services pre-installed (with the exception of a few). So if you want to be able to sign in with your Google account and use Google’s services like Sync, Play Store, Gmail, Drive, etc., you’ll need to install a separate GApps package. There are multiple variants of GApps you can install. You can refer to our guide on finding the right Gapps package for you and download one that’s appropriate for you. This will also be in the form of a zip file. Download and transfer it to your phone’s internal storage. You can also install them right from your PC/Mac if you opt for the adb sideload method.

Note: Some custom ROMs like Pixel Experience come with GApps pre-installed. In such cases, you don’t have to flash the GApps file separately.

Step 3: Booting into TWRP

Once you’ve copied the ROM and GApps files to your phone’s internal memory, it’s time to boot into TWRP to flash the files. If you’re not familiar with booting into recovery mode on your phone, we have a guide telling you how to boot into recovery on your phone so you can follow that to boot into TWRP. Once you’re in TWRP, there are a few things you need to do before installing the ROM which we’ll go over in the next step.

Step 4: Installing the Custom ROM

Once you’re in TWRP, it’s a good idea to take a nandroid backup of your entire system before proceeding further. This can be useful in case you end up with a failed installation. You’ll be able to boot into TWRP and restore the backup to go back to the previous state of your device.

• To do this, select the Backup option in TWRP and select Boot, System Image, Data, Modem, and EFS, and then Swipe to backup. Wait till it’s done.

• This step will wipe your entire phone: Go back to the main menu of TWRP and select Wipe. Then, Swipe to Factory Reset. Select the Format Data option and type in ‘yes’ and select the tick mark to format your phone. Note that formatting the /data partition will need you to reboot once so that TWRP can properly identify the newly created file system.

• Moreover, since the internal memory of the device is wiped during formatting, you must copy the ROM and GApps files once again to your phone’s storage.
  • You can do this from within TWRP itself. Head over to the Mount section and select the Enable MTP option.
  • Now, connect your phone to your PC and it should be detected as a storage device. Transfer the ROM and gapps files.

• Once done, go back to the main menu on TWRP and select Install. Browse to the location where you saved the ROM and GApps files. First, select the ROM and Swipe to Install it.
  • Head back to the previous menu and select the GApps file. Install that as well. Once the installation is complete, select Reboot to System.
  • If your installation does not boot with this sequence of steps, you may need to flash/install the ROM, reboot back into recovery, and then flash the GApps file. This additional reboot is needed in some cases.

You now have a custom Android ROM installed on your phone! Wait for your phone to boot up. It may take a while for the initial boot process so don’t panic, your phone will boot into the setup process.

That’s how you can install a custom Android ROM on your phone. It’s a fairly simple process and with a little bit of time and patience, you can enjoy a fresh new ROM on your phone with added features, customization, theming, and more. If you installed a custom ROM and you don’t like it or it has issues, just download a new ROM and repeat the installation process.

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