How to create non-game apps in Unity

Unity is a game engine and integrated development environment used by millions of developers to introduce tournaments to Android, iOS, Windows, consoles, and many more platforms. It is currently the most popular game engine on the Android platform, thanks to its reorganized interface and workflow, as well as its rich array of features and excellent versatility.

Read likewise: Start building Unity recreations in under 3 hours

While Unity is primarily aimed at game development, it is not limited to tournaments merely. In fact, there is no reason you can’t use Unity to build a host of other tools, utilities, business apps, and the like. And there are some compelling rationalizations to do so! In this berth, I’ll explain why you might want to build a non-game app in Unity, and how you can moving forward doing so.

Reasons to build non-game apps in Unity

Why would you want to develop non-games with Unity, when you have a perfectly good IDE in Android Studio? There are a few compelling reasons.

Rapid progress

The first utilize case is that Unity impels Android app development quicker and easier in countless status. For speciman, Unity lets “youre using” C# rather than Java or Kotlin. While C# isn’t to everyone’s smacks, it is generally considered a little simpler to get to grips with versus Java. Not exclusively that, but if you’re already familiar with C #, then you’ll find this is a much easier transition. The IDE likewise keeps the file structure of your Android app hidden, with no need to worry about things like the AndroidManifest or resource folder.

Building an app in Unity expects far less coding than most traditional alternatives.

On top of this, Unity use a particularly intuitive and rapid user interface. Much of this is a case of drag and descend, and construct UIs doesn’t require a background in XML. You’ll need to do far less actual coding when building non-game apps in Unity, and many things, like adding an likenes to a button or applying a custom typeface, are extremely simple. That’s as it should be, but if you try either of these things with Android Studio, you’ll find it’s headache-inducing!

Testing and deploying apps is terribly efficient, extremely. Adding “assets” built by other useds couldn’t be simpler. Even the facility and set-up is induced fast and easy!

Cross programme increase

Unity is a cross-platform tool, meaning that you can easily create apps for Android, iOS, and Windows with very few modifications needed. If you’re a make and you want to reach the widest audience probable, then this is a significant advantage( though it is fair to point out that other tools like Xamarin will also allow you to do this ).

Powerful features

Although most of its features are designed with game development in mind, there are also a number of potent boasts that might be useful for developing non-game apps in Unity. These are primarily graphical peculiarities, so if you want to include 3D components in your app, Unity could be a very good choice.

Reasons not to build non-game apps in Unity

While you can build a host of potent non-game apps with Unity, you will find that it has its drawbacks. As with anything, it’s a contingency of selecting the right tool for the job.

Here are a few reasons why Unity might not be the best choice for your app.

Bigger app sizes

Unity is a game engine and it includes a lot of code to support the various different purposes it provides to the developer. That means you’ll instantly increase the size of your app by relying on it.

This will make some makes off of using Unity unless absolutely essential. But in reality, the difference in width is rather minor, and it is very unlikely to affect the subjective user experience in a meaningful way.

Deficiency of native support for some peculiarities

The cross platform nature of Unity means that it can’t maybe keep up with every single new development on every operating system or piece of hardware. Likewise, the game-centric nature of the tool means that supporting things like fingerprint sensors is not a priority.

Want to create an app expend the Material Design language, that includes a standard-looking gave of buttons and textbook battlegrounds, and allows users to do things like turn off their WiFi or send text? You’ll have a much easier time employing Android Studio.

If that’s not important to you, then Unity is also continuing be under consideration.

How to build a non-game app in Unity: A speedy tutorial

Now you know why Unity is a valuable tool to build non-game apps, the next step is just to get started. How can you use Unity to build quizzes, calculators, business apps, and the like? Here’s a speedy seminar expending a simple workout app as an example.

Utilize the canvas

First create a brand-new 2D Peace assignment. From now, we’re going to be primarily expend the canvas, so you’ll need to add one to your scene.

To do that, pate over to GameObject> UI> Canvas.

The canvas is a large invisible layer that reports the screen. This is usually used to show dominations, high-pitched compositions, etc. Nonetheless, it can also be used as the primary viewpoint when building menus and the like.

You can also change the background coloring for your app by finding the Main Camera in your Hierarchy window, double-clicking on it, and then choosing “Background” in the Inspector. This is the default color the game camera insures when “there arent” elements in the scene, and it will serve as the backdrop for your verse and buttons.

Now we’re going to add our first piece of verse by heading to GameObject> UI> Text. This is going to be our entitle, and seeing as I’m building a exercising app, I’m going to title mine “Dynamic Workout.” You can change the color of this text in labour inspectors, together with the font. To change the typeface, just find the. ttf record you want to use, and drop it into a new folder you’ll call “fonts” in your Assets. Now you are able to simply drag and throw that file into the correct box in order to start using it. Again, this is so much easier than doing the same thing in Android Studio!

Scaling to different invention sizes

You also is to ensure that the text remains in the same position on manoeuvres of all sizes. The practice you’ll do this, is by opening the text in the Inspector, and then clicking the image of the squares in the top left that says “Anchors” underneath. This will let you anchor the position of any UI element to the screen, such that any costs are going to be in relation to that position.

For instance, if you anchor the textbook to the center of the screen, then the X and Y coordinates will predict 0 so long as it is precisely in the center. Now the textbook will always be in the middle , no matter how big the manoeuvre. You could also anchor to the top left or bottom title, and then build your other factors around that.

For further scaling options, click on the Canvas GameObject in your Hierarchy so that it opens up in the Inspector. Here, you’ll be able to choose the “UI Scale Mode.” By default, it is set to Constant Pixel Size, which refers to how the size of the actual components on the canvas change in shape and size. Play around and test the app on a few cases devices to create something that works for you.

House Interactivity

Next, you will need to handle clinks and tell people actually treated with the UI you’ve created.

To do this, you’re going to add some epitomes to the screen. Head to GameObject> UI> Image and a grey object will be issued in your place. This is where you can add a portrait to represent a button that will do something in your app. Use the Inspector and lowering any idol into the “Source Image” box, in order to change the watch of that white chest accordingly. I’m adding a “Play” button, which I’m going to anchor to the bottom center of the screen.

Perhaps for now, the best option would simply be to have this button make us to the next incident, which might play our exercising, for example.

To do that, we’ll need to write a write. Create a new C# dialogue( and a new writes folder if you like being organized ), and call it MenuControl. All you need to add is a single method called Play (). This will look like so 😛 TAGEND world void Play()

SceneManager.LoadScene( “Level 1” );

You also need to add the following wrinkle at the top 😛 TAGEND Using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;

This tells Unity that we wish to access the features relating to switching tiers and screens.

In the future, “Level 1” is soon to be the enter refer for the next “scene.” Panoramas are often ranks in Unity, but the product contains a imitation of everything in your activity at that given point in time- that not only includes the level layout itself, but likewise the speciman of the player attribute, the menus, the UI ingredients, etc. In other oaths, a scene is more than a tier, because it contains things we commonly don’t think of as “part” of the level.

And that makes a lot of sense once you start trying to use Unity as more than only a tool for forming games: because a scene could also be a menu, or another screen of a utility app. The components exercised from one stage to the next might be entirely different!

Scenes in Unity are usually game tiers, but they can be used for different screens of a practicality app.

Take this opportunity to save your current scene and call it “Title Page” or something like that.

Now we have a situation where shout appropriate methods MenuControl.Play() will propel the following screen( where we’d theoretically begin the workout ). All we need to do now, is to link that method to the button. To do this, you’ll want to add the factor Event> Event Trigger to the button in the hierarchy, then espouse Pointer Down in order to detect press of the button.

Next, create an empty GameObject that will house your script, and then add that to the box that says None( Object ). Unfortunately, you can’t time drag the write here because you need an instance of the class to refer to. Once that’s in place, you can then use the drop down menu next to this box on the right, in order to select the method you want to trigger. In this case, that will be MenuControl.Play ().

Now save your vistum as “Level 1” and manufacture some changes( see what it is you want to on this screen ), so that you can tell when it has been laden. Remember that you need to add all representations to your Build Settings before you’ll be able to refer to them- even when testing.

As you can see, this is a fairly straightforward process and it’s just as easy to add as many other methods now as you like. Now you have the ability to add buttons and verse, and then to add interactions to those element, you can do pretty much anything!

More tricks of the trade

Buttons in different places can do a whole host of different things. You might get them to show or alter a 3D object for example, or perhaps you’ll play a short video. You can likewise manipulate variables and significances and showing these as part of a fibre via a textbook description. Saving records operates just the same as it does when building a game, as does playing sounds.

If you do want to gain access to native features and still want to use Unity, then just do a immediate inquiry around Google or the resource place. Here’s a immediate answer for sending letters via the SMSManager for example. Remember that you’ll need to change these aspects if you’re going to build for variou platforms.

If you know how to use Unity for activity occurrence, you can apply all those talents here.

You’ll too find a emcee of useful UI constituents that you can add to the canvas, such as checkboxes, which are useful if you’re making an online form or a questionnaire.

In other oaths, if you know how to use Unity for recreation blooming, then you can apply all those sciences here too. Hopefully, this tutorial “ve been given” you a immediate overview of how to think about Unity in this context, so you can get out there and construct your own non-game app in Unity today!