diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 0656064ec2..409fcd75d4 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# we need trusty for the chrome addon
+dist: trusty
+
+# we don't need sudo, so can run in a container, which makes startup much
+# quicker.
+sudo: false
+
 language: node_js
 node_js:
     # make sure we work with a range of node versions.
@@ -16,7 +23,9 @@ node_js:
     - 6.3
     - 6
     - 7
+addons:
+    chrome: stable
 install:
     # clone the deps with depth 1: we know we will only ever need that one
     # commit.
-    - scripts/fetch-develop.deps.sh --depth 1 && npm i phantomjs-prebuilt && npm install
+    - scripts/fetch-develop.deps.sh --depth 1 && npm install
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 89f2148f5e..d4b778b91e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ to build.
    npm run build
    ```
    However, we recommend setting up a proper development environment (see "Setting
-   up a development environment" below) if you want to run your own copy of the
+   up a dev environment" below) if you want to run your own copy of the
    `develop` branch, as it makes it much easier to keep these dependencies
    up-to-date.  Or just use https://riot.im/develop - the continuous integration
    release of the develop branch.
@@ -253,7 +253,6 @@ Finally, build and start Riot itself:
 1. `rm -r node_modules/matrix-react-sdk; ln -s ../../matrix-react-sdk node_modules/`
 1. `npm start`
 1. Wait a few seconds for the initial build to finish; you should see something like:
-
     ```
     Hash: b0af76309dd56d7275c8
     Version: webpack 1.12.14
@@ -282,19 +281,34 @@ If any of these steps error with, `file table overflow`, you are probably on a m
 which has a very low limit on max open files. Run `ulimit -Sn 1024` and try again.
 You'll need to do this in each new terminal you open before building Riot.
 
-How to add a new translation?
-=============================
+Running the tests
+-----------------
+
+There are a number of application-level tests in the `tests` directory; these
+are designed to run in a browser instance under the control of
+[karma](https://karma-runner.github.io). To run them:
+
+* Make sure you have Chrome installed (a recent version, like 59)
+* Make sure you have `matrix-js-sdk` and `matrix-react-sdk` installed and
+  built, as above
+* `npm run test`
+
+The above will run the tests under Chrome in a `headless` mode.
+
+You can also tell karma to run the tests in a loop (every time the source
+changes), in an instance of Chrome on your desktop, with `npm run
+test-multi`. This also gives you the option of running the tests in 'debug'
+mode, which is useful for stepping through the tests in the developer tools.
+
+Translations
+============
+
+To add a new translation, head to the [translating doc](docs/translating.md).
+
+For a developer guide, see the [translating dev doc](docs/translating-dev.md).
 
 [<img src="https://translate.riot.im/widgets/riot-web/-/multi-auto.svg" alt="translationsstatus" width="340">](https://translate.riot.im/engage/riot-web/?utm_source=widget)
 
-
-Head to the [translating doc](docs/translating.md)
-
-Adding Strings to the translations (Developer Guide)
-====================================================
-
-Head to the [translating dev doc](docs/translating-dev.md)
-
 Triaging issues
 ===============
 
diff --git a/karma.conf.js b/karma.conf.js
index 1e04366313..d834987e83 100644
--- a/karma.conf.js
+++ b/karma.conf.js
@@ -113,8 +113,23 @@ module.exports = function (config) {
         browsers: [
             'Chrome',
             //'PhantomJS',
+            //'ChromeHeadless'
         ],
 
+        customLaunchers: {
+            'ChromeHeadless': {
+                base: 'Chrome',
+                flags: [
+                    // '--no-sandbox',
+                    // See https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/lkgr/headless/README.md
+                    '--headless',
+                    '--disable-gpu',
+                    // Without a remote debugging port, Google Chrome exits immediately.
+                    '--remote-debugging-port=9222',
+                ],
+            }
+        },
+
         // Continuous Integration mode
         // if true, Karma captures browsers, runs the tests and exits
         // singleRun: false,
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3d7e6935fc..83d9bd16a8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     "lintall": "eslint src/ test/",
     "clean": "rimraf lib webapp electron_app/dist",
     "prepublish": "npm run build:compile",
-    "test": "karma start --single-run=true --autoWatch=false --browsers PhantomJS --colors=false",
+    "test": "karma start --single-run=true --autoWatch=false --browsers ChromeHeadless --colors=false",
     "test-multi": "karma start"
   },
   "dependencies": {
@@ -119,14 +119,12 @@
     "karma-cli": "^0.1.2",
     "karma-junit-reporter": "^0.4.1",
     "karma-mocha": "^0.2.2",
-    "karma-phantomjs-launcher": "^1.0.0",
     "karma-webpack": "^1.7.0",
     "matrix-mock-request": "^1.0.0",
     "minimist": "^1.2.0",
     "mkdirp": "^0.5.1",
     "mocha": "^2.4.5",
     "parallelshell": "^1.2.0",
-    "phantomjs-prebuilt": "^2.1.7",
     "postcss-extend": "^1.0.5",
     "postcss-import": "^9.0.0",
     "postcss-loader": "^1.2.2",