Alpha testing shinyapps.io – first impressions

ShinyApps.io is a new server which is currently in alpha testing to host Shiny applications.  It is being designed by the RStudio team and provides some distinct features different from that of the ShinyApps.io is intended for larger applications and I am guessing commercial applications in the long run.  Right now it is only allowing users by invitation into their alpha program, but they are accepting applicants for beta testing.
spark.rstudio server which is intended primarily for pilot testing Shiny apps. 

The way the user interacts with the system is extremely powerful.  In the standard package for shiny it is extremely easy to experiment with applications under development by simply navigating to the directory of interest with the setwd() command then trying your app with the runApp() function in the shiny library.  The new server has its own functions including the new and extremely powerful deployApp() function which acts the same as the runApp() function except that it contacts the ShinyApps server and immediately sets up a connection and deploys your app.  This makes the entire process of developing shiny applications and deploying them much easier.

I hope that this new service will further increase the user base of shiny! I think an R based interface for generating graphs will provide an invaluable tool for teaching and demonstrating empirical analysis methods.

I have been playing around with Shiny’s seeming animation functionality.  I have created an animation like interface simulating the bouncing of a ball.

http://econometricsbysimulation.shinyapps.io/bounce/

GitHub Source