diff --git a/app/locale.js b/app/locale.js
index 93d14d808..7b0de1d1c 100644
--- a/app/locale.js
+++ b/app/locale.js
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ const fs = require('fs');
 const app = require('electron').app;
 const _ = require('lodash');
 
+const logger = require('./logging').getLogger();
+
 function normalizeLocaleName(locale) {
   if (/^en-/.test(locale)) {
     return 'en';
@@ -42,8 +44,8 @@ function load() {
     // We start with english, then overwrite that with anything present in locale
     messages = _.merge(english, messages);
   } catch (e) {
-    console.log('Problem loading messages for locale ', localeName, e.stack);
-    console.log('Falling back to en locale');
+    logger.error('Problem loading messages for locale ' + localeName + ' ' + e.stack);
+    logger.error('Falling back to en locale');
 
     localeName = 'en';
     messages = english;
diff --git a/app/logging.js b/app/logging.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..34a0ad9f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/logging.js
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+const path = require('path');
+const fs = require('fs');
+
+const electron = require('electron')
+const bunyan = require('bunyan');
+const mkdirp = require('mkdirp');
+const _ = require('lodash');
+
+
+const app = electron.app;
+const ipc = electron.ipcMain;
+const LEVELS = ['fatal', 'error', 'warn', 'info', 'debug', 'trace'];
+
+let logger;
+
+
+function dropFirst(args) {
+  return Array.prototype.slice.call(args, 1);
+}
+
+function initialize() {
+  if (logger) {
+    throw new Error('Already called initialize!');
+  }
+
+  const basePath = app.getPath('userData');
+  const logPath = path.join(basePath, 'logs');
+  mkdirp.sync(logPath);
+
+  const logFile = path.join(logPath, 'log.log');
+
+  logger = bunyan.createLogger({
+    name: 'log',
+    streams: [{
+      level: 'debug',
+      stream: process.stdout
+    }, {
+      type: 'rotating-file',
+      path: logFile,
+      period: '1d',
+      count: 3
+    }]
+  });
+
+  LEVELS.forEach(function(level) {
+    ipc.on('log-' + level, function() {
+      // first parameter is the event, rest are provided arguments
+      var args = dropFirst(arguments);
+      logger[level].apply(logger, args);
+    });
+  });
+
+  ipc.on('fetch-log', function(event) {
+    event.returnValue = fetch(logPath);
+  });
+}
+
+function getLogger() {
+  if (!logger) {
+    throw new Error('Logger hasn\'t been initialized yet!');
+  }
+
+  return logger;
+}
+
+function fetch(logPath) {
+  const files = fs.readdirSync(logPath);
+  let contents = '';
+
+  files.forEach(function(file) {
+    contents += fs.readFileSync(path.join(logPath, file), { encoding: 'utf8' });
+  });
+
+  const lines = _.compact(contents.split('\n'));
+  const data = _.compact(lines.map(function(line) {
+    try {
+      return JSON.parse(line);
+    }
+    catch (e) {}
+  }));
+
+  return _.sortBy(data, 'time');
+}
+
+
+module.exports = {
+  initialize,
+  getLogger,
+};
diff --git a/app/user_config.js b/app/user_config.js
index 2855a62f9..164ffe24e 100644
--- a/app/user_config.js
+++ b/app/user_config.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ if (config.has('storageProfile')) {
   app.setPath('userData', userData);
 }
 
-console.log('userData ' + app.getPath('userData'));
+console.log('userData: ' + app.getPath('userData'));
 
 // this needs to be below our update to the appData path
 const userConfig = new ElectronConfig();
diff --git a/background.html b/background.html
index 58f4a295f..8d021db40 100644
--- a/background.html
+++ b/background.html
@@ -784,7 +784,6 @@
   <script type='text/javascript' src='js/components.js'></script>
   <script type='text/javascript' src='js/reliable_trigger.js'></script>
   <script type='text/javascript' src='js/database.js'></script>
-  <script type='text/javascript' src='js/debugLog.js'></script>
   <script type='text/javascript' src='js/storage.js'></script>
   <script type='text/javascript' src='js/signal_protocol_store.js'></script>
   <script type='text/javascript' src='js/libtextsecure.js'></script>
diff --git a/js/database.js b/js/database.js
index 9675cd0f9..e3698ab72 100644
--- a/js/database.js
+++ b/js/database.js
@@ -97,6 +97,16 @@
                 messages.createIndex('unique', ['source', 'sourceDevice', 'sent_at'], { unique: true });
                 next();
             }
+        },
+        {
+            version: "16.0",
+            migrate: function(transaction, next) {
+                console.log('migration 16.0');
+                console.log('Dropping log table, since we now log to disk');
+                var messages = transaction.db.deleteObjectStore('debug');
+                next();
+            }
         }
+
     ];
 }());
diff --git a/js/debugLog.js b/js/debugLog.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 63e56079b..000000000
--- a/js/debugLog.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,90 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * vim: ts=4:sw=4:expandtab
- */
-(function () {
-    'use strict';
-
-    var LogEntry = Backbone.Model.extend({
-        database: Whisper.Database,
-        storeName: 'debug',
-        printTime: function() {
-            try {
-                return new Date(this.get('time')).toISOString();
-            } catch(e) {
-                return '';
-            }
-        },
-        printValue: function() {
-            return this.get('value') || '';
-        }
-    });
-
-    var DebugLog = Backbone.Collection.extend({
-        database: Whisper.Database,
-        storeName: 'debug',
-        model: LogEntry,
-        comparator: 'time',
-        initialize: function() {
-            this.fetch({remove: false}).then(function() {
-                console.log('Debug log: after fetch have', this.length, 'entries');
-            }.bind(this));
-        },
-        log: function(str) {
-            var entry = this.add({time: Date.now(), value: str});
-            if (window.Whisper.Database.nolog) {
-                entry.save();
-            }
-
-            // Two separate iterations to deal with removal eventing wonkiness
-            var toDrop = this.length - MAX_MESSAGES;
-            var entries = [];
-            for (var i = 0; i < toDrop; i += 1) {
-                entries.push(this.at(i));
-            }
-            this.remove(entries);
-            for (var j = 0, max = entries.length; j < max; j += 1) {
-                entries[j].destroy();
-            }
-        },
-        print: function() {
-            return this.map(function(entry) {
-                return entry.printTime() + ' ' + entry.printValue();
-            }).join('\n');
-        }
-    });
-
-    var MAX_MESSAGES = 2000;
-    var PHONE_REGEX = /\+\d{7,12}(\d{3})/g;
-    var log = new DebugLog();
-    if (window.console) {
-        console._log = console.log;
-        console.log = function() {
-            console._log.apply(this, arguments);
-            var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
-            var str = args.join(' ').replace(PHONE_REGEX, "+[REDACTED]$1");
-            log.log(str);
-        };
-        console.get = function() {
-            return window.navigator.userAgent +
-                ' node/' + window.config.node_version +
-                '\n' + log.print();
-        };
-        console.post = function(log) {
-            if (log === undefined) {
-                log = console.get();
-            }
-            return new Promise(function(resolve) {
-                $.post('https://api.github.com/gists', textsecure.utils.jsonThing({
-                    "files": { "debugLog.txt": { "content": log } }
-                })).then(function(response) {
-                    console._log('Posted debug log to ', response.html_url);
-                    resolve(response.html_url);
-                }).fail(resolve);
-            });
-        };
-
-        window.onerror = function(message, script, line, col, error) {
-            console.log(error.stack);
-        };
-    }
-})();
diff --git a/js/logging.js b/js/logging.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b9520d6a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/logging.js
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const electron = require('electron');
+const bunyan = require('bunyan');
+const _ = require('lodash');
+
+
+const ipc = electron.ipcRenderer;
+const PHONE_REGEX = /\+\d{7,12}(\d{3})/g;
+
+// Default Bunyan levels: https://github.com/trentm/node-bunyan#levels
+// To make it easier to visually scan logs, we make all levels the same length
+const BLANK_LEVEL = '     ';
+const LEVELS = {
+  60: 'fatal',
+  50: 'error',
+  40: 'warn ',
+  30: 'info ',
+  20: 'debug',
+  10: 'trace',
+};
+
+
+// Backwards-compatible logging, simple strings and no level (defaulted to INFO)
+
+function now() {
+  const date = new Date();
+  return date.toJSON();
+}
+
+function log() {
+  const args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0);
+
+  const consoleArgs = ['INFO ', now()].concat(args);
+  console._log.apply(console, consoleArgs);
+
+  const str = args.join(' ').replace(PHONE_REGEX, "+[REDACTED]$1");
+  ipc.send('log-info', str)
+}
+
+if (window.console) {
+  console._log = console.log;
+  console.log = log;
+};
+
+
+// The mechanics of preparing a log for publish
+
+function getHeader() {
+  return window.navigator.userAgent + ' node/' + window.config.node_version;
+}
+
+function getLevel(level) {
+  var text = LEVELS[level];
+  if (!text) {
+    return BLANK_LEVEL;
+  }
+
+  return text.toUpperCase();
+}
+
+function formatLine(entry) {
+  return getLevel(entry.level) + ' ' + entry.time + ' ' + entry.msg;
+}
+
+function format(entries) {
+  return entries.map(formatLine).join('\n');
+}
+
+function fetch() {
+  return getHeader() + '\n' + format(ipc.sendSync('fetch-log'));
+};
+
+function publish(log) {
+  log = log || fetch();
+
+  return new Promise(function(resolve) {
+    const payload = textsecure.utils.jsonThing({
+      files: {
+        'debugLog.txt': {
+          content: log
+        }
+      }
+    });
+
+    $.post('https://api.github.com/gists', payload)
+      .then(function(response) {
+        console._log('Posted debug log to ', response.html_url);
+        resolve(response.html_url);
+      })
+      .fail(resolve);
+  });
+};
+
+
+// A modern logging interface for the browser
+
+// We create our own stream because we don't want to output JSON to the devtools console.
+//   Anyway, the default process.stdout stream goes to the command-line, not the devtools.
+const logger = bunyan.createLogger({
+  name: 'log',
+  streams: [{
+    level: 'debug',
+    stream: {
+      write: function(entry) {
+        console._log(formatLine(JSON.parse(entry)));
+      }
+    }
+  }]
+});
+
+// The Bunyan API: https://github.com/trentm/node-bunyan#log-method-api
+function logAtLevel() {
+  const level = arguments[0];
+  const args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1);
+
+  const ipcArgs = ['log-' + level].concat(args);
+  ipc.send.apply(ipc, ipcArgs);
+
+  logger[level].apply(logger, args);
+}
+
+window.log = {
+  fatal: _.partial(logAtLevel, 'fatal'),
+  error: _.partial(logAtLevel, 'error'),
+  warn: _.partial(logAtLevel, 'warn'),
+  info: _.partial(logAtLevel, 'info'),
+  debug: _.partial(logAtLevel, 'debug'),
+  trace: _.partial(logAtLevel, 'trace'),
+  fetch,
+  publish,
+}
+
+window.onerror = function(message, script, line, col, error) {
+  log.error(error.stack);
+};
+
diff --git a/js/views/debug_log_view.js b/js/views/debug_log_view.js
index 0ed21b9be..628ddc96c 100644
--- a/js/views/debug_log_view.js
+++ b/js/views/debug_log_view.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
         className: 'debug-log modal',
         initialize: function() {
             this.render();
-            this.$('textarea').val(console.get());
+            this.$('textarea').val(log.fetch());
         },
         events: {
             'click .submit': 'submit',
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@
         },
         submit: function(e) {
             e.preventDefault();
-            var log = this.$('textarea').val();
-            if (log.length === 0) {
+            var text = this.$('textarea').val();
+            if (text.length === 0) {
                 return;
             }
-            console.post(log).then(function(url) {
+            log.publish(text).then(function(url) {
                 var view = new Whisper.DebugLogLinkView({
                     url: url,
                     el: this.$('.result')
diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index aba728400..55d2f86d0 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+const path = require('path');
+const url = require('url');
+
 const electron = require('electron')
-const app = electron.app
-const BrowserWindow = electron.BrowserWindow
-const path = require('path')
-const url = require('url')
+
+const BrowserWindow = electron.BrowserWindow;
+const app = electron.app;
 const ipc = electron.ipcMain;
 const Menu = electron.Menu;
 const shell = electron.shell;
@@ -10,6 +12,7 @@ const shell = electron.shell;
 const autoUpdate = require('./app/auto_update');
 const windowState = require('./app/window_state');
 
+
 console.log('setting AUMID');
 app.setAppUserModelId('org.whispersystems.signal-desktop')
 
@@ -38,9 +41,15 @@ if (config.environment === 'production' && !process.mas) {
 }
 
 const userConfig = require('./app/user_config');
-let windowConfig = userConfig.get('window');
+const logging = require('./app/logging');
 
+// this must be after we set up appPath in user_config.js
+logging.initialize();
+const logger = logging.getLogger();
+
+let windowConfig = userConfig.get('window');
 const loadLocale = require('./app/locale').load;
+
 let locale;
 
 function createWindow () {
@@ -126,7 +135,7 @@ function createWindow () {
   });
 
   mainWindow.webContents.on('will-navigate', function(e) {
-    console.log('will-navigate');
+    logger.info('will-navigate');
     e.preventDefault();
   });
 
@@ -169,7 +178,7 @@ function showDebugLog() {
 // initialization and is ready to create browser windows.
 // Some APIs can only be used after this event occurs.
 app.on('ready', function() {
-  console.log('app ready');
+  logger.info('app ready');
 
   if (!locale) {
     locale = loadLocale();
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bb64a7d7e..d9f1bd9eb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     "spectron": "^3.6.2"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "postinstall": "electron-builder install-app-deps",
+    "postinstall": "electron-builder install-app-deps && rimraf node_modules/dtrace-provider",
     "test": "grunt test",
     "lint": "grunt jshint",
     "start": "electron .",
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@
     ]
   },
   "dependencies": {
+    "bunyan": "^1.8.12",
     "config": "^1.26.2",
     "electron-config": "^1.0.0",
     "electron-editor-context-menu": "^1.1.1",
@@ -139,7 +140,9 @@
     "emoji-datasource-apple": "^3.0.0",
     "emoji-js": "^3.2.2",
     "lodash": "^4.17.4",
+    "mkdirp": "^0.5.1",
     "os-locale": "^2.1.0",
+    "rimraf": "^2.6.2",
     "semver": "^5.4.1",
     "spellchecker": "^3.4.3",
     "websocket": "^1.0.24"
diff --git a/preload.js b/preload.js
index 165963590..d43f021ae 100644
--- a/preload.js
+++ b/preload.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
   window.PROTO_ROOT = 'protos';
   window.config = require('url').parse(window.location.toString(), true).query;
 
-  const ipc = electron.ipcRenderer
+  const ipc = electron.ipcRenderer;
   window.config.localeMessages = ipc.sendSync('locale-data');
 
   window.setBadgeCount = function(count) {
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 
   // We pull these dependencies in now, from here, because they have Node.js dependencies
 
+  require('./js/logging');
   require('./js/spell_check');
   require('./js/backup');
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index f7e2bb8f9..a7b3371be 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -448,6 +448,15 @@ builtin-modules@^1.0.0:
   version "1.1.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/builtin-modules/-/builtin-modules-1.1.1.tgz#270f076c5a72c02f5b65a47df94c5fe3a278892f"
 
+bunyan@^1.8.12:
+  version "1.8.12"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/bunyan/-/bunyan-1.8.12.tgz#f150f0f6748abdd72aeae84f04403be2ef113797"
+  optionalDependencies:
+    dtrace-provider "~0.8"
+    moment "^2.10.6"
+    mv "~2"
+    safe-json-stringify "~1"
+
 bytes@2.2.0:
   version "2.2.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/bytes/-/bytes-2.2.0.tgz#fd35464a403f6f9117c2de3609ecff9cae000588"
@@ -965,6 +974,12 @@ dotenv@^4.0.0:
   version "4.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv/-/dotenv-4.0.0.tgz#864ef1379aced55ce6f95debecdce179f7a0cd1d"
 
+dtrace-provider@~0.8:
+  version "0.8.5"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dtrace-provider/-/dtrace-provider-0.8.5.tgz#98ebba221afac46e1c39fd36858d8f9367524b92"
+  dependencies:
+    nan "^2.3.3"
+
 duplexer3@^0.1.4:
   version "0.1.4"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/duplexer3/-/duplexer3-0.1.4.tgz#ee01dd1cac0ed3cbc7fdbea37dc0a8f1ce002ce2"
@@ -1573,7 +1588,7 @@ glob@^5.0.1, glob@~5.0.0:
     once "^1.3.0"
     path-is-absolute "^1.0.0"
 
-glob@^6.0.4:
+glob@^6.0.1, glob@^6.0.4:
   version "6.0.4"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/glob/-/glob-6.0.4.tgz#0f08860f6a155127b2fadd4f9ce24b1aab6e4d22"
   dependencies:
@@ -2604,6 +2619,10 @@ mksnapshot@^0.3.0:
     fs-extra "0.26.7"
     request "^2.79.0"
 
+moment@^2.10.6:
+  version "2.18.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/moment/-/moment-2.18.1.tgz#c36193dd3ce1c2eed2adb7c802dbbc77a81b1c0f"
+
 morgan@^1.6.1:
   version "1.8.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/morgan/-/morgan-1.8.1.tgz#f93023d3887bd27b78dfd6023cea7892ee27a4b1"
@@ -2630,6 +2649,14 @@ mute-stream@0.0.7, mute-stream@~0.0.4:
   version "0.0.7"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/mute-stream/-/mute-stream-0.0.7.tgz#3075ce93bc21b8fab43e1bc4da7e8115ed1e7bab"
 
+mv@~2:
+  version "2.1.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/mv/-/mv-2.1.1.tgz#ae6ce0d6f6d5e0a4f7d893798d03c1ea9559b6a2"
+  dependencies:
+    mkdirp "~0.5.1"
+    ncp "~2.0.0"
+    rimraf "~2.4.0"
+
 nan@^2.0.0, nan@^2.3.2, nan@^2.3.3:
   version "2.6.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/nan/-/nan-2.6.2.tgz#e4ff34e6c95fdfb5aecc08de6596f43605a7db45"
@@ -2642,6 +2669,10 @@ ncp@0.4.x:
   version "0.4.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ncp/-/ncp-0.4.2.tgz#abcc6cbd3ec2ed2a729ff6e7c1fa8f01784a8574"
 
+ncp@~2.0.0:
+  version "2.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ncp/-/ncp-2.0.0.tgz#195a21d6c46e361d2fb1281ba38b91e9df7bdbb3"
+
 negotiator@0.6.1:
   version "0.6.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/negotiator/-/negotiator-0.6.1.tgz#2b327184e8992101177b28563fb5e7102acd0ca9"
@@ -3350,6 +3381,18 @@ rimraf@2, rimraf@2.x.x, rimraf@^2.2.8, rimraf@~2.2.8:
   version "2.2.8"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/rimraf/-/rimraf-2.2.8.tgz#e439be2aaee327321952730f99a8929e4fc50582"
 
+rimraf@^2.6.2:
+  version "2.6.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/rimraf/-/rimraf-2.6.2.tgz#2ed8150d24a16ea8651e6d6ef0f47c4158ce7a36"
+  dependencies:
+    glob "^7.0.5"
+
+rimraf@~2.4.0:
+  version "2.4.5"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/rimraf/-/rimraf-2.4.5.tgz#ee710ce5d93a8fdb856fb5ea8ff0e2d75934b2da"
+  dependencies:
+    glob "^6.0.1"
+
 run-async@^2.2.0:
   version "2.3.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/run-async/-/run-async-2.3.0.tgz#0371ab4ae0bdd720d4166d7dfda64ff7a445a6c0"
@@ -3364,6 +3407,10 @@ safe-buffer@^5.0.1, safe-buffer@~5.0.1:
   version "5.0.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/safe-buffer/-/safe-buffer-5.0.1.tgz#d263ca54696cd8a306b5ca6551e92de57918fbe7"
 
+safe-json-stringify@~1:
+  version "1.0.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/safe-json-stringify/-/safe-json-stringify-1.0.4.tgz#81a098f447e4bbc3ff3312a243521bc060ef5911"
+
 sanitize-filename@^1.6.1:
   version "1.6.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/sanitize-filename/-/sanitize-filename-1.6.1.tgz#612da1c96473fa02dccda92dcd5b4ab164a6772a"