Unity Remote (currently at version 4), is a downloadable app designed to help with Android or iOS development. The app connects with Unity while you are running your project in Play mode from the editor. The visual output from the editor is sent to the device’s screen and the live inputs are sent back to the running project in Unity. This allows you to get a good impression of how your game really looks and handles on the target device without the nuisance of a full build for each test.
With version 4, Unity Remote has been completely rewritten and replaces the separate iOS and Android Remote apps used with earlier versions.
Unity Remote currently supports Android devices (on Windows and OSX via a USB connection) and iOS devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, through USB and only on OSX)
The Game view of the running Unity project is duplicated on the device screen but at a reduced framerate. The following input data from the device is also streamed back to the editor:
Note that the Remote app simply shows the visual output on the device and takes input from it. The game’s actual processing is still done by the Unity editor on the desktop machine and so its performance is not a perfect reflection of the built app.
Unity Remote can be downloaded for free in the form of a Unity project that you build yourself or as a pre-built app from the device’s app store:
Having downloaded the app, you should install and run it on your device and also connect the device to your computer using a USB cable.
To enable Unity to work with your device, you should open the Editor Settings in Unity (menu: Edit > Project Settings > Editor) and select the device to use from the Unity Remote section:
If you now click the Play button in the editor, you should see your game appear on the device as well as the Unity game window as Unity connects to the Remote app. While the game plays, input from the device (accelerometer, etc) will be sent to your scripts as if they were running on the device itself.
Currently Unity Remote doesn’t support multiple connected devices of the same kind (ie, two iPhones or two Androids) and to resolve this, it will automatically pick the first device it finds. However, it is fine to have one iOS and one Android device connected at the same time since you can select which one to use from the Editor Settings mentioned above (menu: Edit > Project Settings > Editor).
When you use Unity Remote, the game actually runs in the Unity editor while its visual content is streamed to the target device. Since the bandwidth between editor and device is limited, the stream must be compressed heavily for transmission and this compression inevitably reduces the image quality.
In the Unity Remote section of the Editor settings (menu: Edit > Project Settings > Editor), you can switch the compression method between JPEG and PNG and also optionally downsize the resolution of the screen image. PNG compression is “lossless” (ie, image quality doesn’t degrade) but uses more bandwidth than JPEG. A downsized image has lower bandwidth requirements than one at full resolution. By changing these settings, you can trade image accuracy off against framerate as necessary.
However, you should bear in mind that Unity Remote is only really intended to give a quick approximate check of how your game will look and feel when running on the device. You should make sure that you occasionally do a full build and test the “real” app.
To establish the connection to the iOS device through USB, Unity uses a 3rd party utility (iproxy) which is known to misbehave occasionally. You can try the following to fix the problem:
killall unityiproxy
. Then, restart the editor again.In most cases reconnecting or restarting the iOS device is enough to restore the connection.
Is something described here not working as you expect it to? It might be a Known Issue. Please check with the Issue Tracker at issuetracker.unity3d.com.
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Some 3rd party video providers do not allow video views without targeting cookies. If you are experiencing difficulty viewing a video, you will need to set your cookie preferences for targeting to yes if you wish to view videos from these providers. Unity does not control this.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.