diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 3f077e04..55e7f0b2 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
                     legacyBundle: "lib/olm/olm_legacy.js",
                     wasmBundle: "lib/olm/olm.js",
                 }
-            }));
+            }, null, {development: true}));
         </script>
     </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/logging/BaseLogger.js b/src/logging/BaseLogger.js
index 1d231b90..584c763b 100644
--- a/src/logging/BaseLogger.js
+++ b/src/logging/BaseLogger.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
 Copyright 2020 Bruno Windels <bruno@windels.cloud>
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ export class BaseLogger {
     log(labelOrValues, logLevel = LogLevel.Info) {
         const item = new LogItem(labelOrValues, logLevel, null, this);
         item._end = item._start;
-        this._persistItem(item.serialize(null));
+        this._persistItem(item, null, false);
     }
 
     /** if item is a log item, wrap the callback in a child of it, otherwise start a new root log item. */
@@ -79,12 +80,9 @@ export class BaseLogger {
                 filter = filter.minLevel(logLevel);
             }
             try {
-                const serialized = item.serialize(filter);
-                if (serialized) {
-                    this._persistItem(serialized);
-                }
+                this._persistItem(item, filter, false);
             } catch (err) {
-                console.error("Could not serialize log item", err);
+                console.error("Could not persist log item", err);
             }
             this._openItems.delete(item);
         };
@@ -120,11 +118,8 @@ export class BaseLogger {
                 // for now, serialize with an all-permitting filter
                 // as the createFilter function would get a distorted image anyway
                 // about the duration of the item, etc ...
-                const serialized = openItem.serialize(new LogFilter(), 0);
-                if (serialized) {
-                    serialized.f = true;    //(f)orced
-                    this._persistItem(serialized);
-                }
+                // true for force finish
+                this._persistItem(openItem, new LogFilter(), true);
             } catch (err) {
                 console.error("Could not serialize log item", err);
             }
diff --git a/src/logging/ConsoleLogger.js b/src/logging/ConsoleLogger.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cac128fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/logging/ConsoleLogger.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+import {BaseLogger} from "./BaseLogger.js";
+
+export class ConsoleLogger extends BaseLogger {
+    _persistItem(item) {
+        printToConsole(item);
+    }
+}
+
+
+const excludedKeysFromTable = ["l", "id"];
+function filterValues(values) {
+    if (!values) {
+        return null;
+    }
+    return Object.entries(values)
+        .filter(([key]) => !excludedKeysFromTable.includes(key))
+        .reduce((obj, [key, value]) => {
+            obj = obj || {};
+            obj[key] = value;
+            return obj;
+        }, null);
+}
+
+function printToConsole(item) {
+    const label = `${itemCaption(item)} (${item.duration}ms)`;
+    const filteredValues = filterValues(item._values);
+    const shouldGroup = item._children || filteredValues;
+    if (shouldGroup) {
+        if (item.error) {
+            console.group(label);
+        } else {
+            console.groupCollapsed(label);
+        }
+        if (item.error) {
+            console.error(item.error);
+        }
+    } else {
+        if (item.error) {
+            console.error(item.error);
+        } else {
+            console.log(label);
+        }
+    }
+    if (filteredValues) {
+        console.table(filteredValues);
+    }
+    if (item._children) {
+        for(const c of item._children) {
+            printToConsole(c);
+        }
+    }
+    if (shouldGroup) {
+        console.groupEnd();
+    }
+}
+
+function itemCaption(item) {
+    if (item._values?.t === "network") {
+        return `${item._values?.method} ${item._values?.url}`;
+    } else if (item._values.l && item._values?.id) {
+        return `${item._values.l} ${item._values.id}`;
+    } else if (item._values.l && item._values?.status) {
+        return `${item._values.l} (${item._values.status})`;
+    } else if (item._values.l && item.error) {
+        return `${item._values.l} failed`;
+    } else if (item._values.ref) {
+        return `ref ${item._values.ref}`
+    } else {
+        return item._values.l || item._values?.type;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/logging/IDBLogger.js b/src/logging/IDBLogger.js
index b4c52edb..96578cd0 100644
--- a/src/logging/IDBLogger.js
+++ b/src/logging/IDBLogger.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
 Copyright 2020 Bruno Windels <bruno@windels.cloud>
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -100,7 +101,8 @@ export class IDBLogger extends BaseLogger {
         return openDatabase(this._name, db => db.createObjectStore("logs", {keyPath: "id", autoIncrement: true}), 1);
     }
     
-    _persistItem(serializedItem) {
+    _persistItem(logItem, filter, forced) {
+        const serializedItem = logItem.serialize(filter, forced);
         this._queuedItems.push({
             json: JSON.stringify(serializedItem)
         });
diff --git a/src/logging/LogFilter.js b/src/logging/LogFilter.js
index 76bebcf1..81bbb33c 100644
--- a/src/logging/LogFilter.js
+++ b/src/logging/LogFilter.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-Copyright 2020 Bruno Windels <bruno@windels.cloud>
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
diff --git a/src/logging/LogItem.js b/src/logging/LogItem.js
index cddcfecf..28f02d8e 100644
--- a/src/logging/LogItem.js
+++ b/src/logging/LogItem.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
 Copyright 2020 Bruno Windels <bruno@windels.cloud>
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ export class LogItem {
         }
     }
 
-    serialize(filter, parentStartTime = null) {
+    serialize(filter, parentStartTime = null, forced) {
         if (this._filterCreator) {
             try {
                 filter = this._filterCreator(new LogFilter(filter), this);
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ export class LogItem {
         let children;
         if (this._children !== null) {
             children = this._children.reduce((array, c) => {
-                const s = c.serialize(filter, this._start);
+                const s = c.serialize(filter, this._start, false);
                 if (s) {
                     if (array === null) {
                         array = [];
@@ -142,11 +143,13 @@ export class LogItem {
                 name: this.error.name
             };
         }
+        if (forced) {
+            item.f = true;    //(f)orced
+        }
         if (children) {
             // (c)hildren
             item.c = children;
         }
-        // (f)orced can also be set on an item by the logger
         return item;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/logging/NullLogger.js b/src/logging/NullLogger.js
index b9e5e72b..0842e4c0 100644
--- a/src/logging/NullLogger.js
+++ b/src/logging/NullLogger.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-Copyright 2020 Bruno Windels <bruno@windels.cloud>
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 */
 import {LogLevel} from "./LogFilter.js";
 
+// TODO: add missing methods
 export class NullLogger {
     constructor() {
         this._item = new NullLogItem();
diff --git a/src/platform/web/Platform.js b/src/platform/web/Platform.js
index 7bd81471..b3b6bccf 100644
--- a/src/platform/web/Platform.js
+++ b/src/platform/web/Platform.js
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {SettingsStorage} from "./dom/SettingsStorage.js";
 import {Encoding} from "./utils/Encoding.js";
 import {OlmWorker} from "../../matrix/e2ee/OlmWorker.js";
 import {IDBLogger} from "../../logging/IDBLogger.js";
+import {ConsoleLogger} from "../../logging/ConsoleLogger.js";
 import {RootView} from "./ui/RootView.js";
 import {Clock} from "./dom/Clock.js";
 import {ServiceWorkerHandler} from "./dom/ServiceWorkerHandler.js";
@@ -82,14 +83,18 @@ async function loadOlmWorker(paths) {
 }
 
 export class Platform {
-    constructor(container, paths, cryptoExtras = null) {
+    constructor(container, paths, cryptoExtras = null, options = null) {
         this._paths = paths;
         this._container = container;
         this.settingsStorage = new SettingsStorage("hydrogen_setting_v1_");
         this.clock = new Clock();
         this.encoding = new Encoding();
         this.random = Math.random;
-        this.logger = new IDBLogger({name: "hydrogen_logs", platform: this});
+        if (options?.development) {
+            this.logger = new ConsoleLogger({platform: this});
+        } else {
+            this.logger = new IDBLogger({name: "hydrogen_logs", platform: this});
+        }
         this.history = new History();
         this.onlineStatus = new OnlineStatus();
         this._serviceWorkerHandler = null;