The touchscreen LG GW520 is designed to be easy to use, with a host of onscreen touch-operated gadgetry to help you get to features and open application quickly and efficiently.

To aid usability, the LG GW520 supports onscreen widgets - mini applications that enable you to operate functions and view information from the phone's home screen.

LG has set up the GW520 with four alternative home screens, each displaying a different icon-based view of function and content shortcuts, which you can swipe between and select with a finger stroke. These home screens cover Contacts, Multimedia (video and music), Shortcuts, and Widgets.

The Widgets home screen can be customised with your own choice of widgets from a selection pre-loaded on to the phone. You an add any combination of these widgets, which include: communication apps (shortcuts for email, messaging inbox, voicemail and missed calls), clock/alarm, memo, calendar, calculator, radio, M-Toy games, world clock, a weather forecast app, and cell broadcast messages.

Here's how to set up and use the Widgets home screen...

1. In home screen mode, swipe your finger across the display until you get to the Widgets home screen (Figure 1). Initially, it shows just Clock/alarm and Communications applications widgets.
2. To open up and use one these, press the widget icon onscreen for a moment. In the Communications widget panel, which contains four options, you need to press the appropriate part to activate the option you require (Figure 2).
3. For the Clock/alarm widget, press to open. To set the alarm, press the small clock symbol in the bottom left of the widget to bring up setting options (Figure 3). You can set the alarm by rotating the dial with a finger swipe (Figure 4).
4. To close a widget, press the small box with the '-' symbol in the top right corner of the widget.
5. To change the selection of widgets that appear onscreen, first press and hold your finger on one of the onscreen widgets. The screen changes; a Widgets toolbar appears along the bottom of the display. Also 'x's appear in a small box in the corner of each onscreen widget (Figure 5).
6. To remove a widget, press the small 'x' box on the widget. It will disappear off the main part of the screen into the toolbar (Figure 6).
7. To add a widget, press the icon in the toolbar on the bottom of the screen that represents the widget you want to add. The widget appears onscreen (Figure 7). You can select as many widgets as you want in the same way, or remove them as outlined above whenever you want (Figure 8).
8. Note that some of the widgets may be hidden to the right of the toolbar; these can be brought onscreen by pressing the small arrow on the right hand of the toolbar (Figure 9).
9. Once you have widgets on the main part of the screen, you can move them around wherever you like by pressing your finger on the widget icon onscreen, holding it and dragging it. Remove your finger to leave it in place (Figure 10).
10. Alternatively you can re-order your onscreen widgets into a grid by pressing the grid icon button in the top left of the display, featuring six small squares (Figure 11).
11. To exit and save your changes to the Widget home screen, press the return arrow button in the top right of the display (Figure 12).
12. The screen will return to its original format, but with your new widgets displayed (Figure 13).
13. As before, to open up a widget, press it for a moment and it will expand onscreen, with application controls or options displayed (Figure 14).