Live data from Hacker News

Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

blog.stephenwolfram.com

1–10 of 18 posts

Re: Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

#2
I had no idea the Wolfram Cloud had grown so useful. If you're here reading comments to see if the article is worth it: It shows how small snippets of code in the Wolfram Language get packaged as an "app" via a companion app on iPhone (which seems like a runtime essentially). That iPhone app also has an Apple Watch component to surface the packaged Wolfram Code app on the watch. Tons of quick examples of pretty clever things.

Re: Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

#4
post #3

How does this get around the App Store Review Guidelines? 2.7: Apps that download code in any way or form will be rejected 2.8: Apps that install or launch other executable code will be rejected

This is just a guess, but it looks like it could be running in a WebView:

> although the apps were designed for the Apple Watch, you can actually also use them on the web, or on a phone

Re: Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

#6
post #4
post #3

How does this get around the App Store Review Guidelines? 2.7: Apps that download code in any way or form will be rejected 2.8: Apps that install or launch other executable code will be rejected

This is just a guess, but it looks like it could be running in a WebView: > although the apps were designed for the Apple Watch, you can actually also use them on the web, or on a phone

I would love to see some of these on the pebble time or android wear as well

Re: Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

#7
post #3

How does this get around the App Store Review Guidelines? 2.7: Apps that download code in any way or form will be rejected 2.8: Apps that install or launch other executable code will be rejected

Looks like everything runs on Wolfram's servers, the phone basically just downloads an image (which is then displayed on the watch). In that sense calling what you'd write/deploy an "app" is a little misleading in a mobile device context...

Re: Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

#8

Who uses the wolfram language? It seems pretty expressive and powerful... but I don't really see a strong case for adoption.

I've only ever seen or heard of it being used by Stephen Wolfram. It must be fun to have a huge engineering team to help support what is essentially a pet project.

Maybe they will someday release something with general availability and competitive pricing, but for now it seems to be behind a walled garden. But I wouldn't worry. If Wolfram Language truly exposes any novel concepts, then it is only a matter of time until the open source community implements those features for everyone else to use.

It's a shame, but I'm skeptical Wolfram will ever see the inherent value of getting real software into the world. From what I've seen, he would much rather build proprietary toys that only he can use, rather than building open-source tools that can be ubiquitous.

If Wolfram has cool toys and isn't willing to share, then so be it. The open source community can build our own cool toys.

Re: Instant Apps for the Apple Watch with the Wolfram Language

#9
post #8

Who uses the wolfram language? It seems pretty expressive and powerful... but I don't really see a strong case for adoption.

I've only ever seen or heard of it being used by Stephen Wolfram. It must be fun to have a huge engineering team to help support what is essentially a pet project. Maybe they will someday release something with general availability and competitive pricing, but for now it seems to be behind a walled garden. But I wouldn't worry. If Wolfram Language truly exposes any novel concepts, then it is only a matter of time unt…

The language part of the Wolfram Language is still really kludgy to use and quite slow. Even doing simple things like writing a function or an if statement is painful. What it does have going for it is the biggest, baddest standard library available.

imo, the language would be much more compelling if the syntax was redesigned from the ground up and made easier to debug (the error messages in Mathematica are next to useless)

Post reply on HN