Can you use a custom ringtone on Apple Watch?

A custom ringtone lives in the iPhone’s own sound list. The watch has a separate, smaller list that you cannot add files to: the Watch app has no import button, and the share sheet’s Use as Ringtone action only exists on the iPhone.

So when a call rings on both devices, the iPhone plays your tone and the watch plays one of its built-in ringtones, or only taps your wrist if its sound is off.

It depends on the watchOS version. Before watchOS 11 the watch had a single fixed ringtone. From watchOS 11 you can pick from a short list of built-in ones. If you do not see the setting, update the watch first.

1. 1On the watch, open Settings › Sound & Haptics › Ringtone and tap a sound, or
2. 2On the iPhone, open the Watch app › My Watch › Sound & Haptics › Ringtone.

Menu names can shift slightly between versions, so look for Sound & Haptics if yours differs.

Often both ring at once, which is why you hear two different sounds. The watch’s Sound & Haptics page also has the sound and haptic switches, and putting the watch on silent mode keeps its sound off while the iPhone still rings. If neither device rings, our checklist for an iPhone that does not ring for incoming calls covers Focus, Silent mode and the other usual causes.

The tone has to be on the iPhone and selected there:

1. 1Make or get the tone, shorter than 30 seconds and not copy-protected.
2. 2Add it with Use as Ringtone (iOS 26) or GarageBand (iOS 17 and 18).
3. 3Pick it in Settings › Sounds & Haptics › Ringtone, or give one contact their own sound in Contacts › Edit › Ringtone.

Our guide to changing your ringtone on iPhone walks through each of these. A contact’s custom ringtone also only applies on the iPhone, not on the watch.

The watch’s haptics are separate from its ringtone, and a custom pattern you made on the iPhone does not appear there either. Check Sound & Haptics on the watch for the options your version offers.

Ringsy makes tones for the iPhone, not for the watch, so it will not change what the watch plays. It is useful for the iPhone half: open a song from Files, a video’s sound or a recording, trim up to 29.9 seconds, then tap Save & set as ringtone. Opening, trimming and hearing a sound are free, your first two exports are free in total, and after that Ringsy Unlimited is a one-time purchase with no subscription. Sounds are processed on the iPhone and nothing is uploaded.

• Apple Watch cannot use a custom ringtone; it offers Apple’s built-in ones.
• From watchOS 11 you can choose among them; older versions have one.
• A tone you add on the iPhone, including a per-contact one, plays on the iPhone only.
• Both devices can ring for the same call, so you may hear two sounds.