Yes, we know that there is a quick hack to create your iPhone ringtone from iTunes, but obviously that is not the easiest way since some of you are still facing problem in getting it to work. If you are looking for alternative method to convert your favorite music to ringtone for your iPhone, Blackbox is the one to go for.
BlackBox is a third party app that allows you to convert your media files to iPhone ringtone simply by drag and drop. No hacking required and it just works. Other than ringtone, it also supports conversion of audio to mp3 file and video to iDevice compatible format.
Usage
Download and install the BlackBox app here. Open the BlackBox app from your Applications folder. You should see a simple square window as shown below:
Before you start to drag and drop your media file, it is best to first visit the Preferences and configure the settings.
On the menubar, go to “BlackBox -> Preferences“. There are only two options. The first option is to choose whether to convert your media file to ringtone or just MP3. The second option is whether it should automatically add to iTunes.
When you are done with your configuration, simply drag and drop your media files to the BlackBox window. If you choose to convert to ringtone, you will see a popout with options to change the start and end time of the ringtone. Note that the ringtone for iPhone only allows 30 seconds of playback, so if you change the start time, make sure the end time is within 30 seconds of the start time.
When the conversion is completed, you will see the success message.
That’s it. You can now add the converted ringtone to your iPhone (if you have got it to add to iTunes automatically).
Video Conversion
As for the video conversion, to say the truth, I have difficulty in getting it to work. Initially, I dropped a MP4 file into the window and all I see is an error message “Not supported media”. Next, I tried with a 3GP video clip and the same error message appear.
It was only when I gave it an AVI file then it worked. I have not tried it with FLV or any other video formats yet.
The problem here is that there is a lack of documentation (absolutely zero documentation) and the error message is not useful at all. I would hope to see a more detail error message, stating which video format is supported and which is not. At the moment, everything is just guesswork.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to convert your media (either ringtone or iDevice compatible format), then BlackBox can definitely serve your needs. However, I would hope that it can improve further by adding a documentation, or perhaps a more useful error message to the app, and it would be prefect.
What do you think?
Image credit: re-ality
Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.
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