Two iPhone ringtones were secretly written by Grammy-winning musician Flying Lotus
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If you've fallen in love with a couple of iPhone ringtones over the past few years, then don't worry – there's nothing wrong with your music taste. That's because two of them were composed by a Grammy-winning musician.
While Marimba might have been the classic iPhone OG ringtone, and Reflections the current default in iOS 17, there are plenty of other pre-loaded ones to pick from, dozens upon dozens in the so-called “Tone Store,” and, of course, the ability to make your own.
But two in particular stand out. As revealed in a recent episode of the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast, Chalet and Daybreak were the work of none other than Flying Lotus.
The artist took to X (the social platform formerly known as Twitter) to confirm the news, writing, “Apple leaked it so I can say it.”
Flying Lotus – real name Steven Ellison – also explained that the two have been around since iOS 13, which dates all the way back to 2019.
Either ringtone can be set via Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtones to be a default sound or for a specific contact, and each can also be used as an alarm clock.
I must admit both are pretty peaceful. Here's a one-hour loop of Daybreak:
And here's Chalet:
The podcast episode in which the revelation appears focuses on the Sound of Apple and covers everything from iPhone ringtones to alarm clock tones, and the audio interface chimes on AirPods Pro. For a company that always pays close attention to the details, it tracks quite well that it would go to the lengths of commissioning an artist with an impressive resume as a musician and producer.
The Sound of Apple episode of the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast is available on a variety of platforms, including Apple Podcasts here. You'll also find it among our list of the best podcasts.
The only thing I'm left wondering is whether Daybreak and Chalet were made in Logic Pro on a Mac…
