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A Solution to 'Ringtone Reverts to Default Issue' - Custom Ringtone With Contacts Problem

notebook

Android Enthusiast
Jun 10, 2011
732
169
I found I had a previously reported problem with assigning (custom) ringtones to contacts. Whenever I selected a contact > Options > Ringtones and selected a custom ringtone from the list, on returning back to the Contact details screen under Options, the Ringtone always reverted to Default and played a default ringtone.

This was the case for most contacts, but not all, some I could alter.

To solve the issue, I exported all contacts onto the SD card, deleted all contacts on the phone and SIM, then imported the contacts back to the phone.

Here's what I did in detail:

1. Ensure your custom ringtones are placed in the correct folder on the SD card - /Ringtones, /Notifications, /Alarms.

2. People > Import/Export > Export to SD card > Phone (or SIM) > OK

3. (Still in People) Delete > Select all > Delete, so that you have no contacts at all on your phone. If you have contacts on your SIM then you should delete these too, just to be certain, but make sure you have them exported/backed-up.

4. (Still in People) Import/Export > Import from SD card > Phone

It takes a moment to do.

This cleared the problem. I was then able to assign successfully custom ringtones to individual contacts.

For what it's worth, I think the problem may occur when transferring old contacts from another SIM (and then to the phone), or when playing around with moving contacts around from SIM to phone and individually deleting copies.

Hope this will be of help.
 

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