# Virginian Pilot — user reviews > 84 indexed App Store user reviews of Virginian Pilot by Pilot Media, rated 4.40/5 from 2,237 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/virginian-pilot/id537988905/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/virginian-pilot/id537988905.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,626 · 4★ 272 · 3★ 119 · 2★ 66 · 1★ 154 ## What do users think of Virginian Pilot? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🇺🇸 Excellent military coverage - 📰 Coastal Virginia information hub - 🗞 Keeps me connected to my hometown **Cons** - 🤯 Overwhelming ads - 🔒 Subscription issues and login problems - 📱 Buggy and crash-prone app - 🧭 Poor navigation and user experience - 📦 Delivery and distribution problems - 📰 Lack of local news coverage **Commonly reported bugs** - Frequent app crashes - Paywall issues even for subscribers - Inability to access full articles **Most requested features** - Restore landscape mode for e-edition - Improve search and filtering capabilities - Provide access to previous day's editions - Make puzzles and comics more accessible ## Newest reviews (15 of 84) ### 3/5 — Grievance Issues *2026-06-11, version 10.0.58* Private Equity Nightmare- I was once employed at the Va. Pilot and they robbed me of a better retirement package, while donating 50 million to the university of Virginia. Still sorta bitter🤷🏾 ### 2/5 — Subscription with zero access🤨 *2024-11-19, version 10.0.29* I receive notices of articles I’d like to read, yet despite my subscription which I noticed I’m still paying for, what I read is I’ve no access to the articles & suggestions that I should subscribe. In light of my ongoing disappointment, I feel this ⭐️⭐️ rating is generous. The Pilot can do better. Perhaps they’ll read my review and make this right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jp Barnes ### 3/5 — Political *2024-08-11, version 10.0.19* You guys lean a little to much to the left not balanced. ### 1/5 — Subscription that I cannot access! *2024-06-28, version 10.0.14* I have a subscription to Va Pilot online that keeps stopping me from logging in. I live on Chincoteague where you discontinued delivery service several years ago. Paying for VP & being unable to easily access is unacceptable. ### 1/5 — Subscribe *2024-06-03, version 10.0.13* I pay money and it always says I have reached my limit It why I quit before in the past My subscription needs to be linked without all the xtra work ### 2/5 — No landscape view for e-edition *2024-04-04, version 10.0.8* I previously viewed e-edition on my iPad with landscape view, two pages wide ( like opening a print edition of the paper) prior to the Pilot eliminating this option a couple months ago. I protested to customer service and hoped that the landscape view would be restored with the latest update. Nope- still no landscape view to make it more convenient for tablet users. ### 1/5 — OVERWHELMED BY ADS *2024-03-29, version 10.0.6* The new update released March 2024 is a disaster. Advertisements continue to pop up without warning, blocking the article content. In many cases in advertisement at the top of the screen and at the bottom of the screen reduces the readable content to only a few lines. I am a subscriber and it seemed to make no difference. twice while reading the same article an advertisement completely dominated the screen and no content was readable. ### 1/5 — Removed Landscape Orientation *2024-03-12, version 10.0.4* Not a fan of the removal of this feature. Why can’t the option be available to use the app in either orientation. Now I have to hold the iPad instead of using the prop up feature of the tablet cover. Very frustrating ### 1/5 — Landscape *2024-03-11, version 10.0.4* Most recent version has eliminated the landscape version of the electronic edition on the iPad. This change makes it more difficult to see the paper as the font is smaller to fit across the narrower portrait orientation screen. Please return the landscape version. ### 1/5 — Why pay? *2024-02-29, version 10.0.0* Doesn’t make sense that media or a newspaper should cost any money. If you have something important to provide or release, it should be free for all to view and read. ### 1/5 — Logging in *2024-01-23, version 10.0.0* Just received a text from a neighbor that was the article on WHRO and Maurice Jones. It wants me to log in to read the article but the login button/tab is not visible. This also happens when I try to open a Pilotonline Facebook post. Very frustrating ### 2/5 — billing on line *2023-07-11, version 9.5.10* You really need to fix your billing on line. Poor service! ### 1/5 — App keeps crashing *2023-06-08, version 9.5.10* This app worked great for years but now it crashes every time I try to use it. Useless! ### 1/5 — Locks up content *2023-05-15, version 9.5.10* Despite being logged in, the app locks up content as if you weren’t a paying user. It’s better to access it from a browser. ### 4/5 — No delivery *2023-05-07, version 9.5.10* Once again I paid for but did not receive my paper delivery. Sunday May, 7,2023 ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Does not work *2026-08-20, version 10.0.59* Ready to stop paper ### 1/5 — The Pilot App *2026-08-20, version 10.0.59* The app won’t update and now I can’t read anything. Must be some glitch that the newspaper was too busy to debug! Everything about this paper except the comics SUCKS! ### 1/5 — Hate this App *2026-07-04, version 10.0.59* Absolutely hate the online experience. When I get notifications for stories and click, the browser opens not the app. For some reason the web version NEVER accepts my saved password. Then when I go to the app directly— it needs updated EVERY TIME. I have updated it 4 times THIS WEEK. Somehow all the other publications I subscribe to offer seamless experiences when you click on their links/ notifications, and they rarely need to update. Given the very small size of the paper now, one would think they would be getting the digital experience right and… one would be wrong. ### 1/5 — Unstable unreliable app *2026-03-15, version 10.0.53* Every time I try to click through on a notification for an urgent story, which are the only ones I bother with anymore, the app needs updating. I’m updating twice a week sometimes!! ### 1/5 — Website Not user Friendly *2025-10-24, version 10.0.47* You cannot manage a subscription from the website as you can with every other new media. Must waste time on the phone but only during work hours. My guess is this is no accident. ### 1/5 — Too many updates *2025-08-28, version 10.0.45* There are no other apps I use that have to be updated more. It’s at least once a week if not multiple times a week. The app is fine. Please stop updating it or at least wait and do monthly ### 1/5 — Why weekly updates? *2025-08-15, version 10.0.44* There are now officially more updates to this buggy app then there are to the actual news cycle. It’s mid-August, and I was just required to perform a second weekly update to access my paid subscription. Meanwhile, at present, the seventh leading news story on the Pilot app is about a July hotdog night at a minor-league baseball stadium. So over the past 3 weeks, there must have only been 6 bigger news stories anywhere else, across all local, state, national, and world news. Maybe update the actual news as frequently as you update the app? ### 1/5 — It’s just associated press clippings *2025-05-14, version 10.0.36* I would love IF Norfolk had a local newspaper. I would gladly pay hundreds of dollars for a Norfolk newspaper. But this is no local paper. All they do is charge you money to read associated press national news drivel, which is free and regurgitated on cable news all day long. Maybe one day, Norfolk will have a newspaper. ### 1/5 — E news *2024-10-14, version 10.0.28* It is hard to navigate. Horrible. Not efficient at all. ### 1/5 — Customer service *2024-08-25, version 10.0.20* This app is bad. I have a question regarding the newspaper’s content and I can’t find a way to email customer service. I might cancel. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Thank you🥁. *2024-10-25* I so very much appreciate your Print devoted to our Military 🇺🇸. Our Family has a total of 6 men and women serving in Navy and Marines ~ Planes, Pentagon, Hospital, Officers, Enlisted. Considering the Biden disaster this past weekend we will be anticipating more coverage even though we dread the facts of decisions being made by the White House and Congress. , ### 5/5 — Puzzles *2024-04-30, version 10.0.12* Question: As an old senior citizen and pretty much computer illiterate…is there a way for me to work your daily “puzzle page”? I thank you in advance for any assistance. ### 5/5 — Wrestling coverage *2024-02-04, version 10.0.0* Great job on the VHSL 5A Regional tournament coverage. Keep up the good work. ### 5/5 — GUI / Deployment *2023-07-09, version 9.5.10* Needs more responsive/frequent updates. Outdated interface ### 5/5 — Virginian Pilot *2023-05-31, version 9.5.10* I am a previous resident of HR. I have now retired and moved from the area. The Virginian Pilot keeps me connected to a place I called home and loved for 43 years! But now…I can’t seem to get to my daily newspaper on line!!! ### 5/5 — Coastal Virginia Information Hub *2022-05-22, version 9.5.2* No better source of information of what’s happening in Hampton Roads, not to mention many cool pics from waterways to athletic events to local dishes to make your mouth water! ### 5/5 — E Pilot clunky to use *2022-01-17, version 9.5* I find that the digital edition of the paper (called e-pilot) is very difficult to navigate through. The first few pages are fine but then it gets progressively harder to advance through the paper. The pages constantly crash and you have to wait for it to re-load. I then cannot easily swipe to the next page and using the forward arrow on top doesn’t help the further you get into the paper. ### 5/5 — Needs a lot of work *2021-09-29, version 9.1* I read on iPad daily. You start reading a headline or article and the app suddenly jumps to another part of the paper! This basic stuff and they can’t to get it fixed. ### 5/5 — Virginian Pilot *2020-09-27, version 8.6* I am a previous resident of HR. I have now retired and moved from the area. The Virginian Pilot keeps me connected to a place I called home and loved for 43 years! ### 5/5 — BBQ *2020-09-19, version 8.6* This article made my mouth start watering with my heart start racing to taste the pit fired delicacies. I plan to load up the van with the rug rats and begin my road trip today stopping at the P-town BBQ joint, and next weekend, extend my road trip to South Norfolk, and so on until I sampled each location. This is a great review and a fabulous idea for family outings while social distancing during the pandemic. Our journey has just began. Please continue your sampling reviews. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*