iPhone ringtones are attractive because they create 'indescribable' emotions

Carlos Xavier Rodriguez, head of the music theory department at the School of Music, Theater & Dance at the University of Michigan (USA), said that the iPhone's ringtone is a "divisive melody"./. Some people think the ringtone is great, but others think it's 'terrible'.

Gyaltsen Moktan, 26 years old, an English teacher in Tokyo, said that since 2019, when he changed his ringtone to By the Seaside, he became obsessed and shuddered with it. At that time, to avoid waking up late, he often set an alarm. When listening to the By the Seaside ringtone, he felt like 'the song was mocking' him, like 'the scene in a horror movie, when people sing nursery rhymes before the day of doom'.

Many Reddit and YouTube users said that after being included in the ringtone list on iOS 7 in 2013, they felt By the Seaside caused stress and anxiety, even making children cry when listening.

However, there are also people who love this ringtone. Boston Flake, a 15-year-old high school student in Utah, after trying to create his own alarm like a siren and loud noise but to no avail, turned to By the Seaside. He said this is the only alarm that can wake him up every morning.

According to Mr. Rodriguez, By the Seaside has musical elements with "no ending elements" that make it difficult for users to listen and feel frustrated. The most important factor is the user's emotional reaction to the so-called Uncanny Valley - a phenomenon that occurs in human psychology and perception related to objects that resemble humans but are not quite human. are human like robots, dolls or even clowns.

Currently, Apple has not commented on the above opinion.

Samuel Daniel

Update 27 June 2024