How to Make a VPN App in Unity 3D
Do you have a mobile device that you always need to connect to the Internet when you’re in a foreign country? Or does your laptop sometimes struggle to connect to the nearest WiFi hotspot? If so, you’ve probably already tried out one of the many VPN apps available for your preferred operating system, but without much success. If you’re still searching for a solution that actually works for your needs, then you’ve come to the right place. Because in this article, we’re going to show you the steps to creating your own VPN app in Unity 3D, the popular game development platform from Unity Technologies. Better still, we’re going to teach you along the way so that by the end of it, you’ll have an app that you can show off to the world.
Setting Up Your Environment
Before you start coding, you’ll need to make sure that you have all of the necessary tools and libraries available. In the Unity package manager, search for ‘vpn’, and you’ll see that there are quite a few VPN providers that provide both open-source and paid plans. Of these, we’ve decided to go with ExpressVPN, a well-known VPN service that specializes in safeguarding the privacy and security of its users. To get started, you’ll need to create an account with them, and then download and install the ExpressVPN app to your phone or computer. Once you’ve done this, you can move on to the next step.
Creating The Interface
The first thing you’ll need to do is set up an interface for your VPN app. When you connect to the VPN, a screen will pop up with the usual log-in credentials that you need to enter. After you’ve logged in successfully, you can access the menu on the left side of the screen. From here, you can select the country where you’re connecting from, the service you want to use (e.g. ExpressVPN, PIA, etc.), and the protocol you prefer (e.g. IPSec, OpenVPN, etc.). Once you’ve made these selections, click on ‘Apply’ to activate the settings. From here, you can click on ‘Connect’ to begin using the VPN server.
Coding The Back-End
Accessing the VPN server is only the beginning. Once you’ve logged in, the next step is to build the back-end of your app. To do this, you’ll need to download the ExpressVPN for Unity package from the asset store. Once you’ve done this, you can move on to the next step.
Adding The Front-End
With the back-end of your app completed, it’s time to add the front-end. For this purpose, you’ll need to download the VPN provider’s API key from their website, and then paste it into a new text file that you can call ‘key.txt’. To make sure that the key is not abused by others, you should keep this file in a safe place and not share it with anyone. Next, you’ll need to download the ‘VPN for Unity’ template from the asset store, and rename it to ‘vpnforunity.unity.’ Once you’ve done this, you can move on to the next step.
Adding The Login Screen And Menu
The next step is to add the login screen and menu. For this, you’ll need to create a new screen to contain the login form, and then edit the default menu template to include the items for your app. When the user logs in, they will be presented with the login screen, and then the menu from which they can select the country, service, and protocol to connect to. You can also add additional options to the menu, such as ‘Clear Cookies and Signals’, ‘About This App’, and ‘Help’.
Testing The Application
Once you’ve completed the basic layout and coding of your application, it’s time to test it. To do this, you’ll need to download the Unity build of the app from the asset store, and then run it on your mobile device or computer. If everything has gone well, then you can consider this application to be finished. Otherwise, you can return back and make some corrections.
To summarize, creating a VPN app in Unity 3D is not that hard, as long as you follow the above steps. Of course, this is all dependent on your preferred VPN provider, as you can choose from a variety of those. Still, with ExpressVPN, you’ll find all of the resources you need, and the steps to follow are very well-documented. If you found this article valuable, and you’d like to explore the world of mobile development, then you can download the complete source code from the asset store at https://assetstore.unity3d.com/#!/search/vpn&type=23&tag=unity&sort=priceDisplayMode. This will give you the opportunity to experiment and build upon this knowledge in the future. Or, if you’d like to dive straight into a project, then you can use the source code as a starting point, and then continue it as you saw fit. In either case, good luck out there in mobile land!