diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 488c3f9a5..f2cdb42c0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+**Features**:
+
+- Added `sentry_app_hang_pause` to allow pausing of the app hang detection mechanism. This is useful in settings where an app can be put in the background, causing the monitored thread to suspend execution. ([#1928](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1928))
+
 **Fixes**:
+
 - Honor checks before launching crash reporter ([#1906](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1906))
 
 ## 0.16.0
diff --git a/include/sentry.h b/include/sentry.h
index daac01a58..f86190147 100644
--- a/include/sentry.h
+++ b/include/sentry.h
@@ -2829,6 +2829,18 @@ SENTRY_EXPERIMENTAL_API uint64_t sentry_options_get_app_hang_timeout(
  */
 SENTRY_EXPERIMENTAL_API void sentry_app_hang_heartbeat(void);
 
+/**
+ * Pauses app-hang detection without changing the watched thread.
+ *
+ * While paused, the watchdog does not capture app hangs. A subsequent heartbeat
+ * from the watched thread automatically resumes detection. Heartbeats from
+ * other threads continue to be ignored.
+ *
+ * This function is a no-op unless app-hang detection is enabled via
+ * `sentry_options_set_enable_app_hang_tracking`.
+ */
+SENTRY_EXPERIMENTAL_API void sentry_app_hang_pause(void);
+
 /**
  * Type of the `before_send_metric` callback.
  *
diff --git a/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.c b/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.c
index 334e89f4f..75d8dd8b6 100644
--- a/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.c
+++ b/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.c
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ sentry__app_hang_should_capture(
 static uint64_t g_target_tid = 0;
 static uint64_t g_last_heartbeat_ms = 0;
 static volatile long g_app_hang_active = 0;
+static volatile long g_app_hang_paused = 0;
 
 void
 sentry__app_hang_set_active(bool active)
@@ -67,6 +68,18 @@ sentry__app_hang_is_active(void)
     return sentry__atomic_fetch(&g_app_hang_active) != 0;
 }
 
+void
+sentry__app_hang_set_paused(bool paused)
+{
+    sentry__atomic_store(&g_app_hang_paused, paused ? 1 : 0);
+}
+
+bool
+sentry__app_hang_is_paused(void)
+{
+    return sentry__atomic_fetch(&g_app_hang_paused) != 0;
+}
+
 uint64_t
 sentry__app_hang_current_tid(void)
 {
@@ -97,6 +110,7 @@ sentry__app_hang_latch_reset(void)
 {
     sentry__atomic_store_u64(&g_target_tid, 0);
     sentry__atomic_store_u64(&g_last_heartbeat_ms, 0);
+    sentry__atomic_store(&g_app_hang_paused, 0);
 }
 
 void
@@ -117,5 +131,17 @@ sentry_app_hang_heartbeat(void)
         // ignore heartbeats from other threads
         sentry__atomic_store_u64(
             &g_last_heartbeat_ms, sentry__monotonic_time());
+        // Publish the fresh timestamp before resuming so the watchdog cannot
+        // observe an unpaused detector paired with a stale heartbeat.
+        sentry__atomic_store(&g_app_hang_paused, 0);
+    }
+}
+
+void
+sentry_app_hang_pause(void)
+{
+    if (!sentry__app_hang_is_active()) {
+        return;
     }
+    sentry__app_hang_set_paused(true);
 }
diff --git a/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.h b/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.h
index 5d0123543..a3042327e 100644
--- a/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.h
+++ b/src/sentry_app_hang_latch.h
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ void sentry__app_hang_set_active(bool active);
 // Whether app-hang detection is currently armed.
 bool sentry__app_hang_is_active(void);
 
+void sentry__app_hang_set_paused(bool paused);
+bool sentry__app_hang_is_paused(void);
+
 sentry_value_t sentry__app_hang_make_event(
     void **ips, size_t frame_count, uint64_t freeze_ms);
 
diff --git a/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.c b/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.c
index ef5f2d9cd..605402854 100644
--- a/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.c
+++ b/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.c
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@ worker(void *arg)
         if (!sentry__app_hang_is_active()) {
             break;
         }
+        if (sentry__app_hang_is_paused()) {
+            continue;
+        }
 
         const sentry_app_hang_latch_t latch = sentry__app_hang_current_latch();
         uint64_t now = sentry__monotonic_time();
@@ -108,6 +111,9 @@ worker(void *arg)
             if (!sentry__app_hang_is_active()) {
                 break;
             }
+            if (sentry__app_hang_is_paused()) {
+                continue;
+            }
             // Only mark this freeze as fired when an event was actually
             // captured. A transient stackwalk failure (0 frames) must not
             // suppress retries while the thread remains stuck.
diff --git a/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.h b/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.h
index c97d9fed9..9ecad56f8 100644
--- a/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.h
+++ b/src/sentry_app_hang_monitor.h
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@
 struct sentry_options_s;
 
 // Interval at which the watchdog samples the heartbeat.
-#define SENTRY_APP_HANG_POLL_MS 500
+#if defined(SENTRY_UNITTEST)
+#    define SENTRY_APP_HANG_POLL_MS 10
+#else
+#    define SENTRY_APP_HANG_POLL_MS 500
+#endif
 
 // Smallest timeout the watchdog can resolve meaningfully. A genuine hang fires
 // somewhere in [timeout, timeout + POLL_MS) depending on the phase between the
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_app_hang.c b/tests/unit/test_app_hang.c
index 25e85caf6..176e8eee5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_app_hang.c
+++ b/tests/unit/test_app_hang.c
@@ -43,6 +43,38 @@ SENTRY_TEST(app_hang_latch)
     sentry__app_hang_set_active(false);
 }
 
+SENTRY_TEST(app_hang_pause_resumes_on_heartbeat)
+{
+#if !SENTRY_HAS_THREAD_STACKWALK
+    SKIP_TEST();
+#endif
+    sentry__app_hang_latch_reset();
+    sentry__app_hang_set_active(true);
+    sentry_app_hang_heartbeat();
+
+    sentry_app_hang_latch_t l = sentry__app_hang_current_latch();
+    uint64_t target = l.target_tid;
+    uint64_t first_heartbeat = l.last_heartbeat_ms;
+    TEST_CHECK(target != 0);
+    TEST_CHECK(first_heartbeat != 0);
+
+    sentry_app_hang_pause();
+    l = sentry__app_hang_current_latch();
+    TEST_CHECK(sentry__app_hang_is_paused());
+    TEST_CHECK(l.target_tid == target);
+    TEST_CHECK(l.last_heartbeat_ms == first_heartbeat);
+
+    sleep_ms(1);
+    sentry_app_hang_heartbeat();
+    l = sentry__app_hang_current_latch();
+    TEST_CHECK(!sentry__app_hang_is_paused());
+    TEST_CHECK(l.target_tid == target);
+    TEST_CHECK(l.last_heartbeat_ms > first_heartbeat);
+
+    sentry__app_hang_latch_reset();
+    sentry__app_hang_set_active(false);
+}
+
 SENTRY_TEST(app_hang_make_event)
 {
     void *ips[2] = { (void *)0x1000, (void *)0x2000 };
@@ -138,6 +170,43 @@ SENTRY_TEST(app_hang_monitor_fires)
     sentry__app_hang_monitor_set_stackwalk_fn(NULL);
 }
 
+SENTRY_TEST(app_hang_pause_prevents_capture)
+{
+#if !SENTRY_HAS_THREAD_STACKWALK
+    SKIP_TEST();
+#endif
+    g_app_hang_seen = 0;
+    g_app_hang_type[0] = '\0';
+    sentry__app_hang_latch_reset();
+    sentry__app_hang_monitor_set_stackwalk_fn(fake_stackwalk);
+
+    SENTRY_TEST_OPTIONS_NEW(options);
+    sentry_options_set_dsn(options, "https://foo@sentry.invalid/42");
+    sentry_options_set_before_send(options, capture_before_send, NULL);
+    sentry_options_set_enable_app_hang_tracking(options, 1);
+    sentry_options_set_app_hang_timeout(options, 50);
+    sentry_init(options);
+
+    sentry_app_hang_heartbeat();
+    sentry_app_hang_pause();
+
+    // Wait beyond the timeout and several poll cycles while the worker is
+    // paused.
+    sleep_ms(100);
+    TEST_CHECK(sentry__atomic_fetch(&g_app_hang_seen) == 0);
+
+    sentry_app_hang_heartbeat();
+    for (int i = 0; i < 300 && !sentry__atomic_fetch(&g_app_hang_seen); i++) {
+        sleep_ms(10);
+    }
+
+    TEST_CHECK(sentry__atomic_fetch(&g_app_hang_seen) == 1);
+    TEST_CHECK_STRING_EQUAL(g_app_hang_type, "AppHang");
+
+    sentry_close();
+    sentry__app_hang_monitor_set_stackwalk_fn(NULL);
+}
+
 SENTRY_TEST(app_hang_disarm_prevents_capture)
 {
     // Mirrors app_hang_monitor_fires, but disarms after latching. This is the
diff --git a/tests/unit/tests.inc b/tests/unit/tests.inc
index 6789e1d92..b88e07453 100644
--- a/tests/unit/tests.inc
+++ b/tests/unit/tests.inc
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ XX(app_hang_end_to_end)
 XX(app_hang_latch)
 XX(app_hang_make_event)
 XX(app_hang_monitor_fires)
+XX(app_hang_pause_prevents_capture)
+XX(app_hang_pause_resumes_on_heartbeat)
 XX(app_hang_should_capture)
 XX(assert_sdk_name)
 XX(assert_sdk_user_agent)