diff --git a/lib/common/mobile/ios/device/ios-application-manager.ts b/lib/common/mobile/ios/device/ios-application-manager.ts
index b1199c1d8c..789f64575e 100644
--- a/lib/common/mobile/ios/device/ios-application-manager.ts
+++ b/lib/common/mobile/ios/device/ios-application-manager.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import { hook } from "../../../helpers";
 import { ApplicationManagerBase } from "../../application-manager-base";
 import { cache } from "../../../decorators";
 import { IOptions } from "../../../../declarations";
+import { ChildProcess } from "child_process";
 import {
+	IChildProcess,
 	IHooksService,
 	IErrors,
 	IiOSNotificationService,
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ import {
 
 export class IOSApplicationManager extends ApplicationManagerBase {
 	private applicationsLiveSyncInfos: Mobile.IApplicationInfo[];
+	private lldbProcesses: IDictionary<ChildProcess> = {};
 
 	constructor(
 		protected $logger: ILogger,
@@ -22,7 +25,8 @@ export class IOSApplicationManager extends ApplicationManagerBase {
 		private $iOSNotificationService: IiOSNotificationService,
 		private $iosDeviceOperations: IIOSDeviceOperations,
 		private $options: IOptions,
-		protected $deviceLogProvider: Mobile.IDeviceLogProvider
+		protected $deviceLogProvider: Mobile.IDeviceLogProvider,
+		private $childProcess: IChildProcess
 	) {
 		super($logger, $hooksService, $deviceLogProvider);
 	}
@@ -118,6 +122,7 @@ export class IOSApplicationManager extends ApplicationManagerBase {
 		const { appId } = appData;
 
 		await this.device.destroyDebugSocket(appId);
+		this.detachNativeDebugger(appId);
 
 		const action = () =>
 			this.$iosDeviceOperations.stop([
@@ -173,15 +178,61 @@ export class IOSApplicationManager extends ApplicationManagerBase {
 	private async runApplicationCore(
 		appData: Mobile.IStartApplicationData
 	): Promise<void> {
+		const deviceId = this.device.deviceInfo.identifier;
 		const waitForDebugger = (!!appData.waitForDebugger).toString();
-		await this.$iosDeviceOperations.start([
+		const result = await this.$iosDeviceOperations.start([
 			{
-				deviceId: this.device.deviceInfo.identifier,
+				deviceId,
 				appId: appData.appId,
 				ddi: this.$options.ddi,
 				waitForDebugger,
 			},
 		]);
+
+		const pid: number = (<any>result?.[deviceId]?.[0])?.pid;
+		if (appData.waitForDebugger && pid > 0) {
+			this.attachNativeDebugger(appData.appId, pid);
+		}
+	}
+
+	// iOS kills an app that takes about 20 seconds to launch, which is what waiting
+	// for or pausing in the JS debugger looks like, unless a native debugger is
+	// attached. lldb only knows about devices since Xcode 16; without it the wait
+	// is just limited to those 20 seconds.
+	private attachNativeDebugger(appId: string, pid: number): void {
+		this.detachNativeDebugger(appId);
+
+		const lldb = this.$childProcess.spawn("xcrun", ["lldb"]);
+		this.lldbProcesses[appId] = lldb;
+		lldb.on("error", (err: Error) => {
+			this.$logger.trace("Unable to attach lldb to the application", err);
+		});
+		// Attaching stops the app. It can only be continued once that has happened,
+		// and until then it can't answer the JS debugger's attach request.
+		let output = "";
+		lldb.stdout?.on("data", (data: Buffer) => {
+			this.$logger.trace(`${data}`);
+			if (output !== null) {
+				output += data;
+				if (/Process \d+ stopped/.test(output)) {
+					output = null;
+					lldb.stdin?.write("process continue\n");
+				}
+			}
+		});
+		lldb.stderr?.on("data", (data: Buffer) => this.$logger.trace(`${data}`));
+		lldb.stdin?.write(
+			`device select ${this.device.deviceInfo.identifier}\ndevice process attach -p ${pid}\n`
+		);
+	}
+
+	private detachNativeDebugger(appId: string): void {
+		const lldb = this.lldbProcesses[appId];
+		if (lldb) {
+			delete this.lldbProcesses[appId];
+			lldb.stdin?.write("process detach\nquit\n");
+			lldb.stdin?.end();
+		}
 	}
 
 	@cache()
diff --git a/lib/common/test/unit-tests/mobile/ios-application-manager.ts b/lib/common/test/unit-tests/mobile/ios-application-manager.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc6d95155a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/common/test/unit-tests/mobile/ios-application-manager.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { assert } from "chai";
+import { EventEmitter } from "events";
+import { IOSApplicationManager } from "../../../mobile/ios/device/ios-application-manager";
+
+describe("IOSApplicationManager native debugger", () => {
+	const deviceId = "device";
+	const appData = { appId: "org.app", projectName: "app", projectDir: "/app" };
+
+	const setup = (pid?: number) => {
+		const lldbInput: string[] = [];
+		const lldbOutput = new EventEmitter();
+		const spawned: string[][] = [];
+		const manager = new (<any>IOSApplicationManager)(
+			{ trace: () => {}, info: () => {} },
+			{},
+			{
+				deviceInfo: { identifier: deviceId },
+				destroyDebugSocket: async () => {},
+			},
+			{},
+			{},
+			{
+				start: async () => ({ [deviceId]: [{ deviceId, pid }] }),
+				stop: async () => ({}),
+				apps: async () => ({}),
+			},
+			{ justlaunch: true },
+			new Proxy({}, { get: () => () => {} }),
+			{
+				spawn: (command: string, args: string[]) => {
+					spawned.push([command, ...args]);
+					return {
+						on: () => {},
+						stdout: lldbOutput,
+						stdin: {
+							write: (text: string) => lldbInput.push(text),
+							end: () => {},
+						},
+					};
+				},
+			},
+		);
+		return { manager, lldbInput, lldbOutput, spawned };
+	};
+
+	it("attaches lldb to an app that waits for the JS debugger", async () => {
+		const { manager, lldbInput, spawned } = setup(42);
+
+		await manager.restartApplication({ ...appData, waitForDebugger: true });
+
+		assert.deepEqual(spawned, [["xcrun", "lldb"]]);
+		assert.include(lldbInput[0], `device select ${deviceId}`);
+		assert.include(lldbInput[0], "device process attach -p 42");
+	});
+
+	it("continues the app once, after the attach stopped it", async () => {
+		const { manager, lldbInput, lldbOutput } = setup(42);
+
+		await manager.restartApplication({ ...appData, waitForDebugger: true });
+		assert.lengthOf(lldbInput, 1);
+
+		lldbOutput.emit("data", Buffer.from("Process 42 sto"));
+		assert.lengthOf(lldbInput, 1);
+		lldbOutput.emit("data", Buffer.from("pped\n"));
+		lldbOutput.emit("data", Buffer.from("Process 42 stopped\n"));
+
+		assert.deepEqual(lldbInput.slice(1), ["process continue\n"]);
+	});
+
+	it("doesn't attach to an app that doesn't wait", async () => {
+		const { manager, spawned } = setup(42);
+
+		await manager.restartApplication(appData);
+
+		assert.deepEqual(spawned, []);
+	});
+
+	it("doesn't attach without a process id", async () => {
+		const { manager, spawned } = setup(-1);
+
+		await manager.restartApplication({ ...appData, waitForDebugger: true });
+
+		assert.deepEqual(spawned, []);
+	});
+
+	it("detaches when the app stops", async () => {
+		const { manager, lldbInput } = setup(42);
+
+		await manager.restartApplication({ ...appData, waitForDebugger: true });
+		await manager.stopApplication(appData);
+
+		assert.include(lldbInput[lldbInput.length - 1], "process detach");
+	});
+});