diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index eb2e0c92a1..d6eea879d3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 ### Fixes
 
 - Resolve relative `SOURCEMAP_FILE` paths against the project root in the Xcode build script ([#5730](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-react-native/pull/5730))
+- Handle `inactive` state for spans ([#5742](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-react-native/pull/5742))
 
 ### Dependencies
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/js/tracing/onSpanEndUtils.ts b/packages/core/src/js/tracing/onSpanEndUtils.ts
index 07c68ae3fc..758560ad06 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/js/tracing/onSpanEndUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/js/tracing/onSpanEndUtils.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 import type { Client, Span } from '@sentry/core';
 import { debug, getSpanDescendants, SPAN_STATUS_ERROR, spanToJSON } from '@sentry/core';
 import type { AppStateStatus } from 'react-native';
-import { AppState } from 'react-native';
+import { AppState, Platform } from 'react-native';
 import { isRootSpan, isSentrySpan } from '../utils/span';
 
+/**
+ * The time to wait after the app enters the `inactive` state on iOS before
+ * cancelling the span.
+ */
+const IOS_INACTIVE_CANCEL_DELAY_MS = 5_000;
+
 /**
  * Hooks on span end event to execute a callback when the span ends.
  */
@@ -174,13 +180,43 @@ export const onlySampleIfChildSpans = (client: Client, span: Span): void => {
 
 /**
  * Hooks on AppState change to cancel the span if the app goes background.
+ *
+ * On iOS the JS thread can be suspended between the `inactive` and
+ * `background` transitions, which means the `background` event may never
+ * reach JS in time. To handle this we schedule a deferred cancellation when
+ * the app becomes `inactive`. If the app returns to `active` before the
+ * timeout fires, the cancellation is cleared. If it transitions to
+ * `background` first, we cancel immediately and clear the timeout.
  */
 export const cancelInBackground = (client: Client, span: Span): void => {
+  let inactiveTimeout: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | undefined;
+
+  const cancelSpan = (): void => {
+    if (inactiveTimeout !== undefined) {
+      clearTimeout(inactiveTimeout);
+      inactiveTimeout = undefined;
+    }
+    debug.log(`Setting ${spanToJSON(span).op} transaction to cancelled because the app is in the background.`);
+    span.setStatus({ code: SPAN_STATUS_ERROR, message: 'cancelled' });
+    span.end();
+  };
+
   const subscription = AppState.addEventListener('change', (newState: AppStateStatus) => {
     if (newState === 'background') {
-      debug.log(`Setting ${spanToJSON(span).op} transaction to cancelled because the app is in the background.`);
-      span.setStatus({ code: SPAN_STATUS_ERROR, message: 'cancelled' });
-      span.end();
+      cancelSpan();
+    } else if (Platform.OS === 'ios' && newState === 'inactive') {
+      // Schedule a deferred cancellation — if the JS thread is suspended
+      // before the 'background' event fires, this timer will execute when
+      // the app is eventually resumed and end the span.
+      if (inactiveTimeout === undefined) {
+        inactiveTimeout = setTimeout(cancelSpan, IOS_INACTIVE_CANCEL_DELAY_MS);
+      }
+    } else if (newState === 'active') {
+      // App returned to foreground — clear any pending inactive cancellation.
+      if (inactiveTimeout !== undefined) {
+        clearTimeout(inactiveTimeout);
+        inactiveTimeout = undefined;
+      }
     }
   });
 
@@ -188,6 +224,10 @@ export const cancelInBackground = (client: Client, span: Span): void => {
     client.on('spanEnd', (endedSpan: Span) => {
       if (endedSpan === span) {
         debug.log(`Removing AppState listener for ${spanToJSON(span).op} transaction.`);
+        if (inactiveTimeout !== undefined) {
+          clearTimeout(inactiveTimeout);
+          inactiveTimeout = undefined;
+        }
         subscription?.remove?.();
       }
     });
diff --git a/packages/core/src/js/tracing/span.ts b/packages/core/src/js/tracing/span.ts
index 030c12028a..90f2b401b8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/js/tracing/span.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/js/tracing/span.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import {
   spanToJSON,
   startIdleSpan as coreStartIdleSpan,
 } from '@sentry/core';
-import { AppState } from 'react-native';
+import { AppState, Platform } from 'react-native';
 import { isRootSpan } from '../utils/span';
 import { adjustTransactionDuration, cancelInBackground } from './onSpanEndUtils';
 import {
@@ -118,8 +118,10 @@ export const startIdleSpan = (
   }
 
   const currentAppState = AppState.currentState;
-  if (currentAppState === 'background') {
-    debug.log(`[startIdleSpan] App is already in background, not starting span for ${startSpanOption.name}`);
+  if (currentAppState === 'background' || (Platform.OS === 'ios' && currentAppState === 'inactive')) {
+    debug.log(
+      `[startIdleSpan] App is already in '${currentAppState}' state, not starting span for ${startSpanOption.name}`,
+    );
     return new SentryNonRecordingSpan();
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/core/test/tracing/idleNavigationSpan.test.ts b/packages/core/test/tracing/idleNavigationSpan.test.ts
index d0c598ca38..a0838d64cc 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/tracing/idleNavigationSpan.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/tracing/idleNavigationSpan.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { Span } from '@sentry/core';
-import { getActiveSpan, getCurrentScope, spanToJSON, startSpanManual } from '@sentry/core';
+import { getActiveSpan, getCurrentScope, spanToJSON, startInactiveSpan, startSpanManual } from '@sentry/core';
 import type { AppStateStatus } from 'react-native';
 import { AppState } from 'react-native';
 import type { ScopeWithMaybeSpan } from '../../src/js/tracing/span';
@@ -117,6 +117,103 @@ describe('startIdleNavigationSpan', () => {
     expect(mockedAppState.removeSubscription).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it('Returns non-recording span when app is already inactive', () => {
+    mockedAppState.currentState = 'inactive';
+
+    const span = startIdleNavigationSpan({
+      name: 'test',
+    });
+
+    expect(getActiveSpan()).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(span).toBeDefined();
+    expect(span?.constructor.name).toBe('SentryNonRecordingSpan');
+    expect(mockedAppState.removeSubscription).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  describe('cancelInBackground with iOS inactive state', () => {
+    it('Schedules deferred cancellation on inactive and cancels after timeout', () => {
+      const routeTransaction = startIdleNavigationSpan({
+        name: 'test',
+      });
+
+      // Keep the span alive with an open child span (simulates in-flight network request)
+      startInactiveSpan({ name: 'child-span' });
+
+      // App goes inactive (e.g. user presses home button on iOS)
+      mockedAppState.setState('inactive');
+
+      // Span should still be open — not cancelled immediately
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).status).not.toBe('cancelled');
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).timestamp).toBeUndefined();
+
+      // Advance past the deferred cancellation timeout (5 seconds)
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(5_000);
+
+      // Now the deferred cancellation should have fired
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).status).toBe('cancelled');
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).timestamp).toBeDefined();
+      expect(mockedAppState.removeSubscription).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    it('Clears deferred cancellation when app returns to active', () => {
+      const routeTransaction = startIdleNavigationSpan({
+        name: 'test',
+      });
+
+      // App goes inactive (e.g. Control Center pulled down)
+      mockedAppState.setState('inactive');
+
+      // Advance part way — not enough for the timeout to fire
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(2_000);
+
+      // App returns to active (Control Center dismissed)
+      mockedAppState.setState('active');
+
+      // Advance well past the original timeout
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(10_000);
+
+      // Span should NOT be cancelled — it's still recording
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).status).not.toBe('cancelled');
+    });
+
+    it('Cancels immediately on background even if inactive timeout is pending', () => {
+      const routeTransaction = startIdleNavigationSpan({
+        name: 'test',
+      });
+
+      // App goes inactive first
+      mockedAppState.setState('inactive');
+
+      // Then transitions to background before the timeout fires
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(100);
+      mockedAppState.setState('background');
+
+      // Span should be cancelled immediately
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).status).toBe('cancelled');
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).timestamp).toBeDefined();
+      expect(mockedAppState.removeSubscription).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    it('Clears inactive timeout when span ends normally', () => {
+      const routeTransaction = startIdleNavigationSpan({
+        name: 'test',
+      });
+
+      // App goes inactive — deferred cancellation is scheduled
+      mockedAppState.setState('inactive');
+
+      // Span ends normally (e.g. idle timeout, new navigation)
+      routeTransaction!.end();
+
+      jest.runAllTimers();
+
+      // AppState listener should be cleaned up
+      expect(mockedAppState.removeSubscription).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      // Span should not have the cancelled status since it ended normally
+      expect(spanToJSON(routeTransaction!).status).not.toBe('cancelled');
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('Start a new active root span (without parent)', () => {
     it('Starts a new span when there is no active span', () => {
       const span = startIdleNavigationSpan({