14 DAY TRIAL // At the end of last week, Apple released a small update to iTunes in order to put an end to the ringtone workaround that had been quickly discovered. Amusingly enough, a workaround for this update was quickly discovered making the company look quite silly.
Last week, Apple introduced the new ringtone feature that lets users create custom ringtones for their iPhone. While the service costs and is limited to tracks available from the iTunes Store, it did not take users long to find out a workaround that bypasses all limitations. The simple process allowed for any AAC file to be turned into a ringtone and involved renaming the track to .M4R and opening it in iTunes, after the next iPhone sync, the track would automatically appear under the ringtones tab. The iTunes 7.4.1 update was released discreetly, only being available on the web and with no specific changes described. Users who installed it found out that the ringtone workaround no longer works, although previously added ringtones were still available, no new ones could be added. Incredibly enough, it did not take users long to find out that by using the same method and renaming the track back to .m4a from .m4r would make the track appear in the iTunes 7.4.1 sync list automatically, effectively rendering the update useless.
It is clear that Apple can't let users transform any track into a ringtone using this simple renaming method, but the company will have to do a better job at putting a stop to it. Currently, bypassing the ringtone system put in place is so easy that any user can do it. The Cupertino company stands to see a lot of heat from the music labels if they do not put a stop to this soon, but in doing so, they will start seeing heat from customers who were already complaining about being restricted from creating ringtones from tracks not available on the iTunes Store, including the ones created by the users themselves.