I am using sparklyr very deep, indeed, I like RStudio IDE more than Zeppelin, because I addict to code-autocomplete so far and better terminal integration.
sparklyr can only run like a mysql client. once you configure the spark conf (hdfs-site.xml,hive-site.xml,yarn-site.xml asking IT staff), you can use yarn-client mode to explore spark very easy.
using sparklyr in Zeppelin just like using DBI in Zeppelin, if you are seeking a more light way, I recommend you pursuit IT staff to lauch a livy service for you. Once you are using sparklyr just forget tedious spark-submit command and play dplyr with fun.
However, most of IT staff only know SparkR instead of sparklyr, and fail to get the convenience and importance of livy and sparklyr.