Congratulations! You've successfully developed your mobile game using Unity, and it's now time to bring it to life on Android or iOS devices. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the process of building and exporting your game for mobile platforms, ensuring a smooth experience for users.

Prepare Your Unity Project for Mobile Export

Before exporting your game, make sure your Unity project is set up for mobile platforms. Follow these mandatory steps:

  1. Open File → Build Settings in Unity.
  2. Select Android or iOS as your target platform.
  3. Switch to the mobile platform, which will generate a version tailored specifically for mobile devices.

This switch prepares Unity for mobile-specific considerations such as resolution and touch input, among other things.

Fine-Tuning Your Game on Mobile Devices

Mobile devices have limitations compared to desktop computers or consoles, so it's essential to optimize your game for smooth performance. Here are some key optimizations:

  • Reduce texture sizes: Use fewer textures of smaller size (e.g., 512×512 or 1024×1024) to free up memory and speed up loading times.
  • Limit draw calls: Merge meshes and limit the number of materials used in your game.
  • Optimize scripts: Ensure your game logic doesn't run unnecessary processes during gameplay.

Testing these optimizations on a real device before exporting will ensure a seamless experience after going live.

Android Export Setup

To export your game for Android, follow these steps:

  1. Install Android Build Support within the Unity Hub:
  • Open Unity Hub and select your project.
  • Click Add Modules and check off the Android Build Support (includes Android SDK & NDK and OpenJDK).
  1. Prepare your game for Android:
  • Edit → Project Settings → Player → Android tab.
  • Change the Package Name, which will be the unique identifier of your app.
  • Set the Minimum API Level and Target API Level according to the minimum and maximum versions of Android you wish to support.

Tip: If you're targeting ARMv7 architecture, you'll enable your game to run on newer devices, but also consider including ARM64 for a broader audience.

Building and Exporting for Android

Now that you've set up your settings, it's time to build the game for Android:

  1. Go to File → Build Settings.
  2. Select Android as your target platform and click Build.
  3. Choose where you want the APK file to be saved.

Alternatively, you can export an AAB (Android App Bundle) by selecting Build App Bundle (Google Play) in Build Settings. Unity will create an APK or AAB file that can be exported and installed on a device or submitted to Google Play.

Recommendation: Split APKs by Target Architecture: If you plan to export your Android application for various target architectures, this will significantly reduce the size of the deployed app.

iOS Export Setup

To set up your project for iOS, follow these steps:

  1. Install iOS Build Support within the Unity Hub:
  • In Unity Hub, press the + under your version of Unity that is installed.
  • Choose iOS Build Support.
  1. Set up your Project for iOS:
  • Go to Edit → Project Settings → Player → iOS section.
  • Update your Bundle Identifier (like Android's Package Name).
  • Choose your Target iOS Version.

Tip: You'll need a registered Apple Developer account to test and deploy this app.

Preparing and Exporting for iOS

To export your game for iOS:

  1. Go to File → Build Settings.
  2. Select iOS as your target platform and then click Build.
  3. Unity should create an Xcode project from here. Open it in Xcode to complete the build process.

Deploy your app to a connected device or use TestFlight for beta testing.

Mobile Device Debugging and Testing

The game can only be tested on real devices; both Android and iOS platforms provide debugging developer tools:

  • Android: Use Android Logcat, accessible in your Unity Package Manager, to check logs for your android device.
  • iOS: Xcode has an integrated debug console for when you catch issues on iPhones or iPads.

In case a game crashes or unexpectedly changes behavior, these tools will give you insight into what went wrong.

Final Touches and App Store Guidelines

Before uploading to the App Store or Google Play, make sure to:

  • Test your game on various devices to ensure performance and UI consistency.
  • Prepare all needed icons, screenshots, and descriptions for listings in the store.
  • Optimize app size: Both Apple App Store and Google Play have specific guidelines for app size.

By following these steps, you'll be able to successfully build and export your mobile game using Unity.