Choose some new sounds

In the Settings app, go to the Sounds option to change the default alert noises your iPhone or iPad makes, as well its vibration options. There’s a range of options here, right from the obvious (such as ringtone or text tone) to things such as what noise an AirDrop request makes, or even tweets and Facebook posts. Each is totally changeable from the built-in sounds in iOS – just tap on one to change it. You’ll then get a big list of the sounds available, which will be divided into Ringtones and Alert Tones. Ringtones are the longer of the two, but there’s nothing stopping you choosing one of these for a Mail alert or similar.

Tap an option to switch to it and hear a preview of the sound, and feel its accompanying vibration pattern. You’ll also see an option named Classic – tap this and you’ll get a different set of options dating from before iOS 7, when the newer options were introduced. You can buy more ringtones by tapping the Store button at the top, though it’s also possible to add ringtones yourself – see below for details.

The options here apply across your device as a whole, but you can customize the ringtones and text tones for individual contacts. Go to the Contacts app, then to someone’s entry. Tap Edit at the top right, then scroll down until you see the Ringtone and Text Tone options, which will be set to Default if you’ve never changed them in the past. Tap one and you get the list of ringtones and alert tones again – just choose a new one for that person and you’ll have an easy way to tell them apart from other callers or texters. You can also customize their vibration patterns similarly through this menu.