Our app is changing. Readers have told us that when they come to WalesOnline for the latest news, features and rugby they would like a better user experience.

We have listened and are pleased to announce the launch of WalesOnline Premium. The new app is free of disruptive adverts and offers a raft of new features, including five new puzzles and and direct access to our podcasts.

For just £2.99 a month or a one-off annual payment of £19.99 (which is much cheaper than paying monthly) you can support award-winning journalism and get the best experience with no pop-ups or distractions. If you're new to the app then you can get started by downloading our app here on iPhone or here on Android.

Dive into The Edit — a curation of the best reads selected by our newsdesk — and keep up to speed with The News Digest, a daily briefing giving you everything you need to know in a quick and concise way, updated during your morning coffee and once again during your lunch break. Our new puzzles include sudoku and crosswords.

Advertising is important to us. It's essential to pay our journalists and to keep our website free. But it’s also important to us that you enjoy visiting us - and that your experience of reading our pages is smooth and easy.

Why support our journalism?

WalesOnline prides itself on investigative and public interest journalism that makes a difference to the lives of people in Wales.

Recently we exposed the inner workings of a direct sales firm in Cardiff whose workers go door to door trying to persuade people to set up direct debits to established UK charities. Working undercover and wearing a hidden camera, we revealed behaviour which left one of those charities appalled, an MP shocked, a fundraising firm describing the footage as “unbelievable” and a regulator saying it is assessing our evidence. As well as our written piece, we also produced an 18-minute documentary, which you can watch here.

In other powerful stories, we exposed the awful behind-the-scenes reality for employees and suppliers at one of Wales' highest-profile restaurants, which overworked them and didn't pay what they were owed. And we revealed the nightmare of a sexual abuse victim failed by the justice system. The CPS and a police force tried to prevent the story’s publication and later reopened their investigation as the result of our reporting.

In politics, we exclusively revealed the widespread discontent within Plaid Cymru at its culture and leadership, which ultimately led to its leader Adam Price’s resignation. Our reporting has kept the scandal of Wales receiving no HS2 funding at the top of the agenda as we repeatedly challenge Westminster leaders. The then-Chancellor abruptly ended an interview because of our questions and our work has been raised both in the Welsh Parliament and House of Commons.

No one in Wales covers court proceedings as comprehensively and thoroughly as WalesOnline. We have two reporters dedicated to reporting what goes in our courtrooms, covering high profile cases live. We follow up every case we can to give a fuller understanding of the impact of crime on its victims. We frequently overturn reporting restrictions on those responsible for crimes whose names and faces would otherwise remain hidden, such as a father who shook his baby so violently the little boy was permanently brain-damaged.

Further hard-hitting local exclusives have included the exposing of conditions at a care home forcing out residents as old as 104 after feeding them food described as "the cheapest of the cheap". And our investigation into cocaine use in Wales analysed data on drug use and spoke to former users, doctors, police officers and relatives of those who died after taking the drug to tell the story of a silent killer becoming seemingly impossible to stop.

We hope you'll continue to support our journalism and welcome your feedback on our new Premium app.