diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ce9260acd7b..cfd31db09c2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 
 - The Kotlin Language version is now set to 1.6 ([#3936](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/3936))
 
+### Features
+
+- Create onCreate and onStart spans for all Activities ([#4025](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/4025))
+
 ### Fixes
 
 - Do not log if `OtelContextScopesStorage` cannot be found ([#4127](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/4127))
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegration.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegration.java
index eaf05e619dc..3c0d8b3a5c7 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegration.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegration.java
@@ -430,7 +430,8 @@ public void onActivityPostCreated(
       final @NotNull Activity activity, final @Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
     final ActivityLifecycleSpanHelper helper = activitySpanHelpers.get(activity);
     if (helper != null) {
-      helper.createAndStopOnCreateSpan(appStartSpan);
+      helper.createAndStopOnCreateSpan(
+          appStartSpan != null ? appStartSpan : activitiesWithOngoingTransactions.get(activity));
     }
   }
 
@@ -468,7 +469,8 @@ public void onActivityStarted(final @NotNull Activity activity) {
   public void onActivityPostStarted(final @NotNull Activity activity) {
     final ActivityLifecycleSpanHelper helper = activitySpanHelpers.get(activity);
     if (helper != null) {
-      helper.createAndStopOnStartSpan(appStartSpan);
+      helper.createAndStopOnStartSpan(
+          appStartSpan != null ? appStartSpan : activitiesWithOngoingTransactions.get(activity));
       // Needed to handle hybrid SDKs
       helper.saveSpanToAppStartMetrics();
     }
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/performance/ActivityLifecycleSpanHelper.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/performance/ActivityLifecycleSpanHelper.java
index 7fed5e0fdbe..fead459ba88 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/performance/ActivityLifecycleSpanHelper.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/performance/ActivityLifecycleSpanHelper.java
@@ -36,18 +36,18 @@ public void setOnStartStartTimestamp(final @NotNull SentryDate onStartStartTimes
     this.onStartStartTimestamp = onStartStartTimestamp;
   }
 
-  public void createAndStopOnCreateSpan(final @Nullable ISpan appStartSpan) {
-    if (onCreateStartTimestamp != null && appStartSpan != null) {
+  public void createAndStopOnCreateSpan(final @Nullable ISpan parentSpan) {
+    if (onCreateStartTimestamp != null && parentSpan != null) {
       onCreateSpan =
-          createLifecycleSpan(appStartSpan, activityName + ".onCreate", onCreateStartTimestamp);
+          createLifecycleSpan(parentSpan, activityName + ".onCreate", onCreateStartTimestamp);
       onCreateSpan.finish();
     }
   }
 
-  public void createAndStopOnStartSpan(final @Nullable ISpan appStartSpan) {
-    if (onStartStartTimestamp != null && appStartSpan != null) {
+  public void createAndStopOnStartSpan(final @Nullable ISpan parentSpan) {
+    if (onStartStartTimestamp != null && parentSpan != null) {
       onStartSpan =
-          createLifecycleSpan(appStartSpan, activityName + ".onStart", onStartStartTimestamp);
+          createLifecycleSpan(parentSpan, activityName + ".onStart", onStartStartTimestamp);
       onStartSpan.finish();
     }
   }
@@ -106,19 +106,18 @@ public void saveSpanToAppStartMetrics() {
   }
 
   private @NotNull ISpan createLifecycleSpan(
-      final @NotNull ISpan appStartSpan,
+      final @NotNull ISpan parentSpan,
       final @NotNull String description,
       final @NotNull SentryDate startTimestamp) {
     final @NotNull ISpan span =
-        appStartSpan.startChild(
+        parentSpan.startChild(
             APP_METRICS_ACTIVITIES_OP, description, startTimestamp, Instrumenter.SENTRY);
     setDefaultStartSpanData(span);
     return span;
   }
 
   public void clear() {
-    // in case the appStartSpan isn't completed yet, we finish it as cancelled to avoid
-    // memory leak
+    // in case the parentSpan isn't completed yet, we finish it as cancelled to avoid memory leak
     if (onCreateSpan != null && !onCreateSpan.isFinished()) {
       onCreateSpan.finish(SpanStatus.CANCELLED);
     }
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegrationTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegrationTest.kt
index eae6e9cc1ce..a14f62c3f03 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegrationTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ActivityLifecycleIntegrationTest.kt
@@ -1561,6 +1561,43 @@ class ActivityLifecycleIntegrationTest {
         assertFalse(appStartMetrics.activityLifecycleTimeSpans.isEmpty())
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `Creates activity lifecycle spans even when no app start span is available`() {
+        val sut = fixture.getSut()
+        fixture.options.tracesSampleRate = 1.0
+        val startDate = SentryNanotimeDate(Date(2), 0)
+        val appStartMetrics = AppStartMetrics.getInstance()
+        val activity = mock<Activity>()
+        fixture.options.dateProvider = SentryDateProvider { startDate }
+        // Don't set app start time, so there's no app start span
+        // setAppStartTime(appStartDate)
+
+        sut.register(fixture.scopes, fixture.options)
+        assertTrue(sut.activitySpanHelpers.isEmpty())
+
+        sut.onActivityPreCreated(activity, null)
+
+        assertFalse(sut.activitySpanHelpers.isEmpty())
+        val helper = sut.activitySpanHelpers.values.first()
+        assertNotNull(helper.onCreateStartTimestamp)
+
+        sut.onActivityCreated(activity, null)
+        assertNull(sut.appStartSpan)
+
+        sut.onActivityPostCreated(activity, null)
+        assertTrue(helper.onCreateSpan!!.isFinished)
+
+        sut.onActivityPreStarted(activity)
+        assertNotNull(helper.onStartStartTimestamp)
+
+        sut.onActivityStarted(activity)
+        assertTrue(appStartMetrics.activityLifecycleTimeSpans.isEmpty())
+
+        sut.onActivityPostStarted(activity)
+        assertTrue(helper.onStartSpan!!.isFinished)
+        assertFalse(appStartMetrics.activityLifecycleTimeSpans.isEmpty())
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `Save activity lifecycle spans in AppStartMetrics onPostSarted`() {
         val sut = fixture.getSut()