Android development can be a tough hobby to jump into sometimes. While some Android devices have a number of guides telling users how to do everything from theming to ROM building to kernel development, there are other devices that just don’t have that kind of support for aspiring new developers. Thankfully, the gaps are being filled by those who have the patience to teach. Now, aspiring developers for the Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 can get in on the fun as well thanks to XDA Senior Member superatmos, who has begun writing guides on a number of development topics from ROM building to kernel compiling.

The guide is a work-in-progress, but there are already a couple of great tutorials to get new devs started. The second post in the thread guides users through completely deodexing a ROM, which opens it up for themes and further modifications. The following post runs the full gamut of compiling a kernel from setting up the toolchain and getting the kernel and initramfs ready for compiling, all the way down to the actual compiling process. The only part currently missing from the trifecta is ROM building, but superatmos says it is coming soon.

Additionally, users are already asking questions and doing some experimenting of their own, such as attempting to deodex ICS .APKs. Even if you only show up for the first few posts, it’s worth reading through the whole thread just to learn from other users’ experiments and mistakes. For additional information, the full guides and more, check out the development thread. As always, be sure to make a backup before testing anything you make.

There’s comes a point in the development of every device that users and devs alike will start rooting through their device—pun intended—and find and modify previously unknown files. Often times, these uncovered files don’t do much at all, but occasionally a diamond in the rough is found and brings some real benefits.

This is the case for the Samsung Galaxy S II I9100. XDA Senior Member Crescendo Xenomorph has stumbled across sirfgps.config within the system files that seems to have some bearing on GPS. The interesting part is, none of the current GPS enhancement mods even touch this file. Testing is still being conducted, but preliminary results show that modifying the SiRF file may yield faster and more accurate GPS locks.

Results are still mixed, and users are still trying out the various variables and seeing what each one does, but the progress and testing support from the Galaxy S II community has been nothing short of impressive. While no users have reported that their houses burned down or phones exploded, there are a few who aren’t getting the results they wish out of their modding and testing.

For additional information, check out the original thread. You’ll need to read through the whole thread, as the download links, what others have modified, and most of the information is spread out over the course of many pages. As usual, be sure to make a backup before attempting to modify this, just in case you need to restore it to stock values.

Cell phone usage while driving is understandably a hot topic. Many users want to remain connected, or simply access their device’s GPS navigation, but dealing with cumbersome buttons while driving is more than a little risky. With this in mind that Android, major OEMs often bundle driving-optimized layouts and voice control capabilities.

For those who don’t know, Driving Mode is a safety feature that makes most of the functions on your phone much more car-friendly. However, Driving Mode isn’t always the easiest thing to access. Most times you have to select it in settings, open an app in the app drawer,  or activate it using Vlingo on the Samsung Galaxy S II. For XDA Forum Member hirak99, that just wasn’t enough.

Have been looking for a stand alone widget for this for a long time but didn’t find any. Hence I made one… a widget that allows you to switch Driving Mode on/off with a touch.

The widget, intended for those who don’t want to use the other methods or have uninstalled Vlingo, is a simple 1×1 widget that toggles Driving Mode. Accessing Driving Mode is now simple and efficient. The widget is currently only available for Samsung Galaxy S II users.

Those looking to get started should head to the original thread. Remember to always practice safe driving!

Kernel source is always a much sought-after commodity in the Android custom development world, and the source for Android 4.0 has been in high demand and rightfully so. The kernel source provides developers with the files and libraries needed to tweak and improve the OS for a device so as to improve things like battery life, processor overclocking and undervolting, and much more.

There are few manufacturers who fully adhere to GPL standards for releasing the kernel source for their devices, and some even wait until the last minute or later (read HTC) to do so. Samsung however has been bucking that trend for quite awhile now. They are well known for releasing the kernel source for their new handsets on, or sometimes even before, launch date.

A week after releasing the Stock ICS ROM for the Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100, Samsung has released the kernel source for it and you can download it from Samsung’s Open Source Release Center or from this direct link. Discussion can be found on our forums.

[Thanks to XDA Recognized Developer Faryaab for the tip!]