Okay, I’m going to skip all the complaints about my new Galaxy SIII and just ask: how do I get the ringtone that I just bought to be available on the ringtone dropdown menu?
I used the Play…something on my Galaxy. I’d tell you what it was but it seems to be gone since I allowed the thing to upgrade to Samsung Hub. Anyway, the ringtone that I bought is in Play Music. I can listen to it there, but I can’t get it to go to the Ringtones folder so that I can select it.
I’ve been to several forums that say to connect it to my computer, Explore it, open the folder with the file that I want to move and move it.
Except that nearly every folder on the phone is empty, and I cannot find the Play Music app data.
Be sure you are connecting in “Media Device” mode. There are two or three different modes that Android phones will connect to a PC in - “Installer” “Camera” and “Media.” Each one will show you different sets of on-phone folders. After you connect, swipe down on the status bar, tap the connection mode notice, and select Media or Media Device.
I recall having problems with downloaded ringtones not going to the right place, but it was simple to fix and I think it’s even simpler to avoid if you do things right.
First, install ES File Explorer on your phone (from the Google Play Store). It will let you manage the files on your phone. Once that is installed, run it, and ensure you are browsing the sdcard. Your ringtone is probably an MP3 file, and I would start looking for it in the Music folder, the Downloads folder or the Media folder. You may need to search for your Ringtone in ES File Explorer (using the file name). Once you have found it, you can copy it to the Ringtone folder (in media/audio/ringtones).
One showstopper problem is that Play Music doesn’t download the music to your phone. You “own” it, but it’s really only available on Google’s server. You stream it when playing it. There’s no local copy under normal circumstances.
You can force Google Play Music to download the track, but it’s a pain and it winds up in an obscure folder (/sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.music/cache/music) and the filenames will not be meaningful.
Short answer, Google play limits and discourages downloading the music you’ve bought and highly discourages moving the downloaded music to another folder or device. (Let alone another person… this appears to be a fairly aggressive anti-piracy technical approach that winds up disadvantaging legitimate users who want to do anything slightly outside the box.)
There are apps that trick Google Play into downloading a streaming-only purchase and then copying it from the cache to a more mainstream music library directory with full tracking, album art, and a meaningful filename.
After you solve the “Google Play doesn’t even normally put the music file on your device”, you’re down to the “gotta move the file into the ringtones folder”. But I think you have good advice on that.
While this is true for Google Play Music purchases, Play Music also indexes and plays local content (On Device music). My assumption is that the purchased ringtone has been downloaded and installed into an SDCard folder, and then been indexed by the usual Android music library and shows up in the Play Music library. If this is not the case (i.e. the OP has purchased a Google Play Music song to use as a ringtone), then what you suggest may well be true.
I thought Google Play was supposed to be a competitor to iTunes. This is a showstopper for me. I often listen to music in my car, where there is no Internet connection.
Unless you tap on the “pin” icon for that content, which downloads a local copy. It also works for videos (TV & movies) you purchase from the Play store.
I see further down that there are other solutions that would actually download the music onto the phone, but I don’t trust a streaming solution. What if my cell connection is dropped, or at least I get into a zone where I can’t get a high-speed data connection? It happens all the time right now.
I assume you mean the “download to your PC” option, which I hadn’t mentioned myself yet. Most times in the context of an online music purchase from a mobile device, “download” means “download to device”, not “download to a PC which has nothing to do with this purchase”.
This method would work to make a Google Play Music purchase available in the phone’s SD Card (or equivalent phone storage space) for use as a ringtone. It’s just a little convoluted, but would work.
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[li]Install Google Play’s PC music downloader on your convenient PC.[/li][li]Use the downloader to transfer whichever purchases you want to your PC. Note that each Google Play purchased media file can only be downloaded twice in its entire life. Once you’ve downloaded it, apparently there’s no technical restriction on duplication, but don’t ever completely lose the file outside of Google Play space more than twice, or you’ll never be able to do the download again (that way).[/li][li]Use the USB cable technique mentioned earlier to transfer the music files to your phone.[/li][li]Profit!! [/li][/ol]
Downsides: requires a PC which would otherwise not be needed. I assume the downloader program is available for both major platforms (Windows, Mac)… maybe Linux, too, but I won’t hold my breath. Rube Goldberg levels of complicated. (Forcing the involvement of a PC, a special application, and USB cabling to transfer media from a mobile service to a mobile device smacks of unnecessary positing of gratuitous plurality, William of Ockham notwithstanding.) Uses up at least one of your precious two PC downloads Google graciously permits you to have.
ETA: That’s a lot of stuff I’ve put in up there about the “Download to PC” option. If the “Download to phone via the ‘pin’ icon” option is actually being discussed, I’ve already talked about why it’s less useful for OP’s original problem: making the Play Music purchase available as a ringtone, or playing it in anything besides Google Play Music.
What foxed me fro ages with Andoid was that you have to “set as a ring tone”, otherwise it just don’t show up in the ring tone menu. On mine (iocean x7 jellybean) Open the song in the player and press the file/stacked up things button and “set as ring tone” is on there then the song shows in the ring tone menu…why the hell its like that i have no idea it makes no sense at all…
Yeah, pretty unintuitive. But at least it works, once you find it, with most music players. (Both PowerAmp, which I usually use, and the normal built in music player on my Droid 4 do it this way.)
But I just checked, and Google Play Music doesn’t seem to have such an option. (Unless it’s very well hidden.) So if you bought music on Play, even if you locally downloaded it, it’s still trapped inside of Google Play’s walled garden.
Sometimes I think they remove functionality from the music play app just to mess with us…just because they can.
I’m still using an old version of Music Play because a couple of showstopper features were removed in the updated version (or so cunningly hidden I can’t find them). Also, they did away with its muted visual design that worked well in a darkened room–light text on a nearly black background–to an obtrusive one of dark text on a background of garishly bright and obtrusive white and light orange. It looks as if the orange Creamsicle truck capsized on a busy road.
A lot of people don’t like it.
Many other people point out, “Look, it’s free software. What do you expect?”
To which the first group counters: “Even if it is free, why does Google want to turn it into crap?”
I like Android, I really do. But it does seem to have problems with managing media files. I’ve noticed it with every app I’ve tried; Google Play is the least vexing, even as it is.
Many apps allow you to press and hold an item to get a sub-menu. I have an LG P506GO and a Motorola Defy and in both of them in the Music app, I do that to a song in the list to get a menu which has set as ringtone as one of the choices. If you can’t find a menu and there is no obvious choice in the main menu, try that.
(Mind you, they are both old versions of Android; 2.2.1 and 2.2.2)
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