Appium - Could not start a new session on iPad

I am trying to automate iOS app on real iPad device. My code was working fine till last week and suddenly started throwing error from today. Neither Xcode, nodejs, java or Appium has been upgraded. No code has been updated whatsoever.

public AppiumDriver runOnRealDevice() {
		try {
			XCUITestOptions options = new XCUITestOptions();
			options.setDeviceName("my iPad");
			options.setPlatformVersion("16.5.1");
			options.setWdaLaunchTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(20));
			options.setCapability("xcodeOrgId","......");
			options.setCapability("xcodeSigningId","iPhone Developer");
			options.setCapability("udid","......");
			driver = new IOSDriver(new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4723/"),options);
			
			driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(15));
			Map<String,String> params = new HashMap<String,String>();
			params.put("bundleId", "com.myapplebundleidentfier");
			driver.executeScript("mobile:launchApp",params);
		}catch (Exception e) {
			System.out.println("Here12 "+e.getLocalizedMessage());
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
		return driver;
	}

The issue happens on driver = new IOSDriver(new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4723/"),options);

Below is the complete error message

StatusLogger Log4j2 could not find a logging implementation. Please add log4j-core to the classpath. Using SimpleLogger to log to the console...
Could not start a new session. Possible causes are invalid address of the remote server or browser start-up failure. 
Host info: host: '-MacBook-Air.local', ip: 'fe80:0:0:0:1044:a4fe:6300:fc53%en0'
Build info: version: '4.11.0', revision: '040bc5406b'
System info: os.name: 'Mac OS X', os.arch: 'aarch64', os.version: '13.4.1', java.version: '17.0.6'
Driver info: io.appium.java_client.ios.IOSDriver
Command: [null, newSession {capabilities=[{appium:udid=myudid, appium:xcodeOrgId=myxoceorgid, appium:wdaLaunchTimeout=20000, appium:xcodeSigningId=iPhone Developer, appium:deviceName=iPad, platformName=IOS, appium:automationName=XCuiTest, appium:platformVersion=16.5.1}], desiredCapabilities=Capabilities {appium:automationName: XCuiTest, appium:deviceName: Pritish’s iPad, appium:platformVersion: 16.5.1, appium:udid:dsssddsdssd, appium:wdaLaunchTimeout: 20000, appium:xcodeOrgId: dsdsdsdsdssd, appium:xcodeSigningId: iPhone Developer, platformName: IOS}}]
Capabilities {appium:automationName: XCuiTest, appium:deviceName: my iPad, appium:platformVersion: 16.5.1, appium:udid: sddsdsdsds, appium:wdaLaunchTimeout: 20000, appium:xcodeOrgId: ddsds, appium:xcodeSigningId: iPhone Developer, platformName: IOS}
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.execute(RemoteWebDriver.java:536)
	at io.appium.java_client.AppiumDriver.startSession(AppiumDriver.java:229)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.<init>(RemoteWebDriver.java:159)
	at io.appium.java_client.AppiumDriver.<init>(AppiumDriver.java:80)
	at io.appium.java_client.AppiumDriver.<init>(AppiumDriver.java:92)
	at io.appium.java_client.ios.IOSDriver.<init>(IOSDriver.java:106)
	at WebPortal.IOSBaseTest.runOnRealDevice(IOSBaseTest.java:66)
	at WebPortal.IOSBaseTest.setup(IOSBaseTest.java:32)
	at WebPortal.IOSBaseTest.getDriver(IOSBaseTest.java:25)
	at stepDefinitions.TA124_ComprehensiveCI_StepDefinitions.<init>(TA124_ComprehensiveCI_StepDefinitions.java:36)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:77)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:45)
	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstanceWithCaller(Constructor.java:499)
	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:480)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.ObjectFactoryServiceLoader$DefaultJavaObjectFactory.cacheNewInstance(ObjectFactoryServiceLoader.java:141)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.ObjectFactoryServiceLoader$DefaultJavaObjectFactory.getInstance(ObjectFactoryServiceLoader.java:133)
	at io.cucumber.java.AbstractGlueDefinition.invokeMethod(AbstractGlueDefinition.java:47)
	at io.cucumber.java.JavaStepDefinition.execute(JavaStepDefinition.java:29)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.CoreStepDefinition.execute(CoreStepDefinition.java:66)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.PickleStepDefinitionMatch.runStep(PickleStepDefinitionMatch.java:63)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.ExecutionMode$1.execute(ExecutionMode.java:10)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.TestStep.executeStep(TestStep.java:92)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.TestStep.run(TestStep.java:64)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.PickleStepTestStep.run(PickleStepTestStep.java:51)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.TestCase.run(TestCase.java:104)
	at io.cucumber.core.runner.Runner.runPickle(Runner.java:73)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.Runtime.lambda$execute$5(Runtime.java:110)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.CucumberExecutionContext.runTestCase(CucumberExecutionContext.java:117)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.Runtime.lambda$execute$6(Runtime.java:110)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:539)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.Runtime$SameThreadExecutorService.execute(Runtime.java:233)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.AbstractExecutorService.submit(AbstractExecutorService.java:123)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.Runtime.lambda$run$2(Runtime.java:86)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.ReferencePipeline$3$1.accept(ReferencePipeline.java:197)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.SliceOps$1$1.accept(SliceOps.java:200)
	at java.base/java.util.ArrayList$ArrayListSpliterator.tryAdvance(ArrayList.java:1602)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.ReferencePipeline.forEachWithCancel(ReferencePipeline.java:129)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.copyIntoWithCancel(AbstractPipeline.java:527)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.copyInto(AbstractPipeline.java:513)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.wrapAndCopyInto(AbstractPipeline.java:499)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.ReduceOps$ReduceOp.evaluateSequential(ReduceOps.java:921)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.evaluate(AbstractPipeline.java:234)
	at java.base/java.util.stream.ReferencePipeline.collect(ReferencePipeline.java:682)
	at io.cucumber.core.runtime.Runtime.run(Runtime.java:87)
	at io.cucumber.core.cli.Main.run(Main.java:92)
	at cucumber.api.cli.Main.run(Main.java:30)
	at cucumber.api.cli.Main.main(Main.java:15)
Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: 'java.lang.String org.openqa.selenium.json.Json.toJson(java.lang.Object, int)'
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.NewSessionPayload.create(NewSessionPayload.java:126)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.NewSessionPayload.create(NewSessionPayload.java:111)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.NewSessionPayload.create(NewSessionPayload.java:105)
	at io.appium.java_client.remote.AppiumProtocolHandshake.createSession(AppiumProtocolHandshake.java:101)
	at io.appium.java_client.remote.AppiumCommandExecutor.createSession(AppiumCommandExecutor.java:194)
	at io.appium.java_client.remote.AppiumCommandExecutor.execute(AppiumCommandExecutor.java:262)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.execute(RemoteWebDriver.java:518)
	... 48 more

Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: 'java.lang.String org.openqa.selenium.json.Json.toJson(java.lang.Object, int)'

That should mean your code, or one of the libraries you are using, is trying to call a method that does not exist in the version of the library that is currently loaded. It is common to see this error when there are mismatches in library versions.

Since you have not changed your code, and the versions of Appium and other tools are the same, it is possible that you might have inadvertently updated some libraries. Check if your project's dependencies (libraries/jars) are consistent and compatible.

• If you are using Maven, check your pom.xml file.
• If you are using Gradle, check your build.gradle file.

If your project source code with using Git, a git status should help visualize any change.

Make sure the versions of Appium's Java client and Selenium's Java client are compatible.

Try and clear the cache and reinstall dependencies.

• If using Maven:

mvn clean install

• If using Gradle:

./gradlew clean build

If you are only specifying the Appium Java client in your dependency management tool, try explicitly specifying a compatible Selenium version too (See Compatibility Matrix). Appium's client has a dependency on Selenium, and there might be compatibility issues between versions.

Check also if your device's OS version was updated, it might affect Appium's behavior.

The OP mentions having resolved the issue by removing:

<dependency>
            <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
            <artifactId>selenium-devtools</artifactId>
            <version>4.0.0-beta-4</version>
</dependency>

The selenium-devtools dependency is specific to Chrome and the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP). It provides capabilities to interact with Chrome's DevTools for advanced automation tasks that go beyond the standard Selenium capabilities. Examples include manipulating network conditions, setting breakpoints, etc.

The OP was using version 4.0.0-beta-4. If your other Selenium dependencies were not of the same version, it might have caused conflicts.

And the selenium-devtools artifact might have pulled in transitive dependencies that conflicted with other dependencies in your project.

Given the OP's stack trace showed issues with iOS testing (io.appium.java_client.ios.IOSDriver), the Chrome-specific selenium-devtools dependency might not have been necessary. Appium iOS testing does not utilize Chrome DevTools.

Since Java libraries sometimes have classes with the same names, it is possible the selenium-devtools dependency introduced classes that conflicted with others on the classpath.

I managed to resolve my issue by removing following dependency

<dependency>
            <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
            <artifactId>selenium-devtools</artifactId>
            <version>4.0.0-beta-4</version>
</dependency>