How To: Set Your Favorite Video as Your Alarm or Ringtone on a Samsung Galaxy S3

Your smartphone has a ton of ringtone options built in, but ringtones haven't really changed much in the past decade, and it's definitely not cool to hear someone in the supermarket with the same lame ringer. While replacing the stock sounds with a song of your choosing is the best way to keep your phone personalized, why not go a step further using a video?

This can easily be done on your Samsung Galaxy S3 using an app on Google Play called dodol pop (beta) ringtones. This app adds the ability to use videos as not only ringtones, but also notifications and alarms, as long as you're running Android 2.3.3 and higher. You can also upload personal videos from your Gallery or even edit sound files.

Dodol pop has a nice looking, easy to use user interface. From the main screen you can select between, Ringtone, Notification, Package, Edit, or Alarm. I'll be covering each section in detail below, so keep on going...

Ringtone

Setting up a video ringtone is super easy. Tap the Ringtone icon on the dodol pop home page and you'll be taken to the selection screen. Here you can select from a ton of user generated videos, music, or sound clips. These categories are available at the top, right below the orange menu bar.

Since the coolest thing about the app is the videos, that's what I will focus on. To set a video ringtone, you'll have to download your selected video to your Galaxy S3. Once downloaded, you can then set it as your ringtone. Next to Current Ringtone, you should see your most recent selection.

Now when you receive a phone call, your video will play. If you were looking to set a separate video for each of your contacts, you're out of luck.

The app is still in beta, so this feature could be added at a later date.

Notification

While you can set videos for your alarm and ringtone, you cannot for your notification tone. This is probably a good thing, since it would be pretty tiresome to have a video clip run every time you receive a text message. You can still select from user-generated sound clips and music files. Again, download the file and then set it as your current notification.

Package

You can download free packages which may include videos, music, and sounds clips. Just go to the package tab, find a package you want to download, and hit buy (all current packages are free). You will be taken to the Google Play Store where you can then download the package items.

When you download a package, it goes into the Ringtone and Notification sections and also creates a shortcut.

Edit

You can also edit sounds files or your own recording, as well. Well, edit may be a little generous. You can trim and move the start and end locations.

Alarm

To set an alarm, go to the home page and look near the bottom. There is an alarm section where you can add multiple alarms by hitting the plus icon and then setting your time.

Once your time is set, you choose between a video, music, or sound clip under the media section. You can make the alarm repeat, alter the volume, and label it as well.

Drawbacks

The Korean developer has created a great app in terms of the idea, but American users may find the video selection to be lacking in songs that they recognize, since most of the user-generated videos are in fact Korean selections. It would be great to see integration with YouTube down the line. Also, dodol pop lacks the option for custom ringtones for individual contacts, which would be a killer benefit if added.

In the end, dodol pop is a solid app for those of you seeking an alternative to the regular alarm clock or ringtone. It's free in the Play Store, so make sure to check it out for yourself.