Stay on top of the news all day with The Virginian-Pilot’s web and app notifications. We’ll let you know — on your phone or right in your web browser — when there’s big breaking news happening, and also share our editors’ top picks so you see the best of what The Pilot has to offer.
App alerts for mobile devices
Push alerts are notifications you can choose to be sent to your phone based on personalized categories you want to follow. As news develops on these categories, you’ll receive an alert that displays on your phone even if the app isn’t running, so you can always be in the know.
The Alerts icon in the app’s footer opens a screen of recent notifications we’ve sent based on categories you are interested in. If you tap on alerts, the app will ask you if you want to allow push notifications to be sent to your phone, so you’re in complete control. When you sign up, you’ll opt in for Top Stories and Breaking News to start. From the Alerts screen, tap “Customize” to add or remove categories. Choose from categories like sports, weather, entertainment, and for specific localities.
Browser notifications
Our web notifications work on Chrome, Firefox, Safari for Mac, Android and Edge. Press the TURN ON PILOT WEB NOTIFICATIONS button below to enable them on your browser. If you are turning on Pilot web notifications for the first time, your browser will also prompt you for permission to receive notifications from The Pilot – press ALLOW on that prompt. If you have an ad blocker enabled, then you won’t be able to add or receive notifications.
Note: If you are visiting on a browser like iOS Safari or Internet Explorer which does not support web notifications yet, you won't see the sign-up button above.
Disabling Pilot web notifications
Change your mind? If you’ve already turned on Pilot web notifications and no longer want to receive them, press the DISABLE PILOT WEB NOTIFICATIONS above.