Newbie Music Question

[souffoue]

I am new to Android and just got the note 7 after having an iPhone 4s for several years. I used iTunes sparingly so don't know much at all about iTunes or other music apps. I did, however, love that I could buy ringtones of my favorites songs (from the actual artist), etc from iTunes. It was super easy.

I have a few questions so please bear with me. With the note 7 I'm a bit confused about the "music" apps. From what I can tell there are two music apps that came with the note 7: (1) "music" app (icon is just a music note) which I believe is the Samsung music app and it came with a song called "Over the Horizon" and (2) "play music" (icon is orange - not sure what it is though LOL) and is the google play music app. I bought a Prince album in google play to mess around with this app a bit and try to figure things out.

When I do a seach in the google play app for ringtones it brings up very few and they are not actual ringtones made from the artists songs (hope that makes sense). Also, when I try to go through settings and choose "sounds and vibrations", "ringtone" and choose "add from phone storage" -- it only brings up that weird "Over the Horizon" song from the Samsung Music app.

So, I guess my main questions are: (1) how do I create a ringtone from a song/album I've purchased in google play or buy a ringtone from google play (or can I even do that)? (2) If I can't buy or create ringtones in google play how do I add ringtones/music to the Samsung Music app?

Thanks so much!!!

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi there,

Let's see if we can clear up a few of your questions. First, about those Music players. Yes, the 'music note' one is the stock music player and it's mainly for locally-stored files (your phone ships with the Over The Horizon tune). The orange one is Google's Music service, which can be used to play local files, but it's mostly geared towards cloud music playing (like Spotify or iTunes Radio).

Now, here's where things might get tricky. If you buy an album or song from Google Play, you do own the file, BUT if you use the Google Play Music app to download it to your phone, it will do so in an encrypted file that only that app can see/use. If you want the MP3 version that the stock music app (and, eventually, the ringtones) can see, then you have to download it on your computer form the Google Play site (or in a web browser on your phone set up to Desktop Mode).

Once you have the MP3 files, you can place them anywhere you want and the stock music player should 'see' them and be able to play them. For ringtones, however, I think you need to copy the file to the appropriately-named 'ringtones' folder in your phone (it should already exist).

As for downloading ringtones directly from Google Play, nope, you won't have much luck there. Best you can do is once you own the song you want, use an MP3 editor to extract the portion that you want to use as a ringtone and copy that newly-created file to your ringtones folder. Or you can use apps like Zedge to try and find user-submitted ringtones.

 

[souffoue]

Thank you so much for the detailed response and help!! I will work on downloading to my computer one of the songs I bought in google play and give it a shot. I'm sure I'll have more questions as this is very foreign and new to me.

 

[SpookDroid]

We're all here to help! Just let us know what you need help with and we'll be happy to help with what we can!

 

[Thisistip]

I use the audiko for my ringtones

 

[souffoue]

thanks I will check that one out too!

 

[yankees2287]

i feel stupid lol i cant find the regular music app, i see the google music player but not the normal one

 

[Vacmfuzzy]

Yeah, Zedge is my favorite app for free ringtones, and you can find almost any particular one that you're looking for.

 

[SpookDroid]

i feel stupid lol i cant find the regular music app, i see the google music player but not the normal one

Not all carriers included one, so you might be 'stuck' with the Play Music app (which can also play local music files).

 

[souffoue]

i feel stupid lol i cant find the regular music app, i see the google music player but not the normal one

I know the feeling. I'm getting super frustrated with it all. I've spent hours trying to figure out certain things and am almost ready to just go back to iPhone cuz iTunes is so easy.

 

[SpookDroid]

Trust me, once you get the hang of it you'll see that iTunes is anything BUT.
You can use Smart Switch to transfer you iTunes library seamlessly, and apps like DoubleTwist try to mimic the 'iTunes' feel (you can give that player a try if you want, too!).

In the meantime (and there is a learning curve every time you switch OSs), we can help! Just ask away

 

[yankees2287]

i ended up downloading the samsung music player from the app store so im good now.

 

[jneusch]

I just started using Cloud Player. It plays music stored on popular cloud drives as well as local music. It is also Android Auto compatible. I have been very happy with it since installing it 2 weeks ago.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[From A Buick 8]

thanks I will check that one out too!

i am in the same boat, i am coming over from iPhone and i have never used Android before. i have taken the idea of going back to iPhone off the table so i have no choice but to make my pretty new Note 7 work for me.

 

[msm0511]

I am new to Android and just got the note 7 after having an iPhone 4s for several years. I used iTunes sparingly so don't know much at all about iTunes or other music apps. I did, however, love that I could buy ringtones of my favorites songs (from the actual artist), etc from iTunes. It was super easy.

I have a few questions so please bear with me. With the note 7 I'm a bit confused about the "music" apps. From what I can tell there are two music apps that came with the note 7: (1) "music" app (icon is just a music note) which I believe is the Samsung music app and it came with a song called "Over the Horizon" and (2) "play music" (icon is orange - not sure what it is though LOL) and is the google play music app. I bought a Prince album in google play to mess around with this app a bit and try to figure things out.

When I do a seach in the google play app for ringtones it brings up very few and they are not actual ringtones made from the artists songs (hope that makes sense). Also, when I try to go through settings and choose "sounds and vibrations", "ringtone" and choose "add from phone storage" -- it only brings up that weird "Over the Horizon" song from the Samsung Music app.

So, I guess my main questions are: (1) how do I create a ringtone from a song/album I've purchased in google play or buy a ringtone from google play (or can I even do that)? (2) If I can't buy or create ringtones in google play how do I add ringtones/music to the Samsung Music app?

Thanks so much!!!

If you happen to want to use the ringtones you already bought in iTunes it's pretty easy to move them to your Android phone. Open iTunes and find the ringtone in the Tones section of your library. Right click on it and slide it to your desktop. You can download Android File Transfer or AirDroid (both free) for your phone and computer. Then drag the ringtone into the proper folder using one of the aforementioned programs, and voila! It's in your phone.

Smart Switch from Samsung may do this as well. I haven't used it yet because the Note 7 is my first Samsung phone, but I prefer using the web client of AirDroid. It's pretty simple and can transfer stuff wirelessly over wifi or plugged in via USB.

 

[souffoue]

Trust me, once you get the hang of it you'll see that iTunes is anything BUT.
You can use Smart Switch to transfer you iTunes library seamlessly, and apps like DoubleTwist try to mimic the 'iTunes' feel (you can give that player a try if you want, too!).

In the meantime (and there is a learning curve every time you switch OSs), we can help! Just ask away

Thanks. Sorry for letting my frustration (and probably my migraine) get the best of me. I'm having trouble with iTunes and Smart Switch too. lol Thanks for all your help and patience!

 

[souffoue]

i am in the same boat, i am coming over from iPhone and i have never used Android before. i have taken the idea of going back to iPhone off the table so i have no choice but to make my pretty new Note 7 work for me.

Good luck, keep us posted on your progress.

 

[souffoue]

If you happen to want to use the ringtones you already bought in iTunes it's pretty easy to move them to your Android phone. Open iTunes and find the ringtone in the Tones section of your library. Right click on it and slide it to your desktop. You can download Android File Transfer or AirDroid (both free) for your phone and computer. Then drag the ringtone into the proper folder using one of the aforementioned programs, and voila! It's in your phone.

Smart Switch from Samsung may do this as well. I haven't used it yet because the Note 7 is my first Samsung phone, but I prefer using the web client of AirDroid. It's pretty simple and can transfer stuff wirelessly over wifi or plugged in via USB.

Thank you for these suggestions. I will give it a try!

 

[msm0511]

Thanks. Sorry for letting my frustration (and probably my migraine) get the best of me. I'm having trouble with iTunes and Smart Switch too. lol Thanks for all your help and patience!

isyncr is an app that works pretty well to move iTunes content over to Android as well. Is your computer Windows or macOS?

 

[souffoue]

isyncr is an app that works pretty well to move iTunes content over to Android as well. Is your computer Windows or macOS?

It's Windows.