The toy is controlled by two simple "+" and "-" buttons around the small Fun Factory logo at the top. Hold down the "+" button to turn on the toy, tap "+" or "-" to cycle through it's settings, and tap "-" on the lowest setting to turn the toy off.
I wish there was a different way to turn the toy off, perhaps holding down the "-" button instead of tapping it. Sometimes I would forget that I was on the lowest setting, would tap "-", and then have to wait and hold down "+" to restart the toy.
There are eight steady vibration settings, but by reading other reviews of the toy, I discovered it has three additional pulsating patterns. Access them by holding down the "+" sign at the highest (eighth) vibration setting. The vibrations travel effectively through the entire length of the toy, though it is moderately noisy. It seems to get a full charge in less than 5 hours; it's never died on me.