Since updating to iPadOS 26.3 and Xcode 26.3, I’ve observed that my testplan suites, that formerly ran 30+ hours and ended with 100% test execution, terminate early at 12-15 hours with an error that suggests an OS-related anomaly is blocking continuation of the test suite. The error in the console is " Wait for accessibility to load" and then a "failure to load accessibility". My tests use the XCUItest framework and accessibility tags to interact with screen elements on the tethered ipad. This never happened on ipadOS 26.2 and earlier. I'm curious if others have seen this behavior and when Apple will get this fixed.

We’re having an iPad issue accessing the local network with iPadOS 26.3. We have an automation system that tests our app on an iPad using accessibility tags. the XCTest test code sends messages from the iPad via TCP/IP to setup external test equipment. The messages abruptly stopped transmitting across the iPad blood-brain barrier with iPadOS 26.3 (26.2.1 and earlier works fine). The technique that worked involved installing a helper app with the same bundleID as our app, allowing the helper app to access the network, and when our app runs it has network access through the helper. It’s clever and kludgey. Forums that we referenced in the past: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/663858 TN3179: Understanding local network privacy | Apple Developer Documentation I suspect that something was changed in 26.3 that closed our window. I need two things: ID what is different in 26.3 and fix the automation system. If there’s a new way for XCUITest code to access the local network I’m happy to try it out.