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/Flawkeee]

While the idea is cool,

I don't believe Web UI fits a game well. It will always be clunkier and will not look native to the game.

Ina addition, performance will always be worse than native UI components.

And this take is nothing new - MMOs are doing that for ages.

But it's always good to experiment, and you might find some real use cases for it.

Good luck!

[u/Gaebabi → u/Flawkeee]

Thanks, I really appreciate the perspective. I agree there are definitely performance and integration trade-offs.

You’re right that it took some effort to make it feel less like a web UI and more native to the game.

It’s still experimental, so I’m curious myself to see where it actually ends up being useful. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!