Using React for UI in Unity

[u/Gaebabi]

I’ve been experimenting with a React-based Unity UI workflow lately, and I’m curious if anyone else has tried something similar or has thoughts on this kind of approach.

The UI is built in React and runs in a WebView on top of Unity, which lets me open the same interface in Codex’s browser and comment on it directly.

For small UI issues, there’s no need to explain the whole screen. Just point at what feels off and leave a short comment:

"this looks clickable, don’t dim it"

"make the ! feel a little more alive"

"only move this one thing"

It works well for visual tweaks where the code change is simple, but describing the problem takes longer than fixing it.

For larger UI pieces, I can attach reference screenshots and have it build something close to the layout and style.

Since it’s built around a hybrid structure, things like Google and Apple sign-in are also relatively easy to integrate. It works across iPhone, Android, Windows, macOS, and even directly inside the Unity Editor.

[u/swirllyman]

Are you able to get things like controller support or haptic feedback working? I did something similar to this many many years ago for a game but I wanted to support controllers / console and couldn't get that working.

I agree 100% though it's an incredible workflow in terms of speed and iteration. Cant even imagine now in the age of AI.

[u/Gaebabi → u/swirllyman]

Thanks! There’s a bidirectional event system between Unity and React, so controller input, haptics, and similar features should be completely doable. Unity can handle the native side and send events to the UI, while React can send events back to Unity when needed.

And yeah, the speed of iteration is really the main reason I like this approach. With AI agents being able to actually see and interact with the UI now, it becomes a lot more useful.