The most popular way to do this is to visit a tonos para celular Web site. The ringtone Web site will then send a message to the cell phone. Once the code has been downloaded, simply paste the code into your cell phone. Your cell phone will be sent the message. The SMS gateway site will then send it to the other party's phone.

The first ringtone service was delivered in Finland in 1998. The service was called Elisa and was created by Vesa-Matti Pananen. It was a combination of tools and a mechanism for delivering monophonic ringtones over the air. The Digitalphone Group followed suit in Japan and began the service there in November 1998. Its popularity grew as more people became aware of its benefits.

Xingtone is an example of an app that creates ringtones. This software works in a similar fashion to the popular Audacity program. A user can select a segment of a song to create a ringtone from it. The app can be used on iPhones to create a customised ringtone. Alternatively, an iPhone can be programmed to create a corresponding ringtone for itself.