diff --git a/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-ios.zip b/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-ios.zip
index bb76b9a5c9..fb61299b17 100644
Binary files a/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-ios.zip and b/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-ios.zip differ
diff --git a/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-iosUITests-Runner.zip b/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-iosUITests-Runner.zip
index d22c5b2b91..8e7e83d99d 100644
Binary files a/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-iosUITests-Runner.zip and b/maestro-ios-driver/src/main/resources/driver-iPhoneSimulator/Debug-iphonesimulator/maestro-driver-iosUITests-Runner.zip differ
diff --git a/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Sources/MaestroDriverLib/Models/AXElement.swift b/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Sources/MaestroDriverLib/Models/AXElement.swift
index 28613ae899..7811488e9b 100644
--- a/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Sources/MaestroDriverLib/Models/AXElement.swift
+++ b/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Sources/MaestroDriverLib/Models/AXElement.swift
@@ -97,6 +97,23 @@ public struct AXElement: Codable, Equatable {
         return max ?? 1
     }
 
+    /// Every element in this subtree (including `self`) whose `elementType` matches,
+    /// in depth-first pre-order. Nested matches are included, like
+    /// `XCUIElementQuery.allElementsBoundByIndex` on a descendants query.
+    public func descendants(ofType elementType: Int) -> [AXElement] {
+        var matches = [AXElement]()
+
+        func collect(_ element: AXElement) {
+            if element.elementType == elementType {
+                matches.append(element)
+            }
+            element.children?.forEach(collect)
+        }
+
+        collect(self)
+        return matches
+    }
+
     public func filterAllChildrenNotInKeyboardBounds(_ keyboardFrame: CGRect) -> [AXElement] {
         var filteredChildren = [AXElement]()
 
diff --git a/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Tests/MaestroDriverLibTests/AXElementTests.swift b/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Tests/MaestroDriverLibTests/AXElementTests.swift
index 658e8a3f0b..bfc4f880f0 100644
--- a/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Tests/MaestroDriverLibTests/AXElementTests.swift
+++ b/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/MaestroDriverLib/Tests/MaestroDriverLibTests/AXElementTests.swift
@@ -163,4 +163,30 @@ final class AXElementTests: XCTestCase {
 
         XCTAssertNotEqual(element1, element2)
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    // MARK: - descendants(ofType:)
+
+    func testDescendantsOfType_returnsMatchesInPreOrderIncludingNested() {
+        let statusBar = 25
+        let nested = AXElement(identifier: "nested", elementType: statusBar)
+        let outer = AXElement(identifier: "outer", elementType: statusBar, children: [nested])
+        let other = AXElement(identifier: "second", elementType: statusBar)
+        let root = AXElement(
+            identifier: "springboard",
+            elementType: 2,
+            children: [
+                AXElement(identifier: "window", elementType: 4, children: [outer]),
+                AXElement(identifier: "button", elementType: 9),
+                other
+            ]
+        )
+
+        XCTAssertEqual(root.descendants(ofType: statusBar).map(\.identifier), ["outer", "nested", "second"])
+    }
+
+    func testDescendantsOfType_includesSelfAndReturnsEmptyWhenNoMatch() {
+        let leaf = AXElement(identifier: "bar", elementType: 25)
+        XCTAssertEqual(leaf.descendants(ofType: 25).map(\.identifier), ["bar"])
+        XCTAssertTrue(AXElement(children: [leaf]).descendants(ofType: 9).isEmpty)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/maestro-driver-iosUITests/Routes/Handlers/ViewHierarchyHandler.swift b/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/maestro-driver-iosUITests/Routes/Handlers/ViewHierarchyHandler.swift
index 9224359fab..2c31015569 100644
--- a/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/maestro-driver-iosUITests/Routes/Handlers/ViewHierarchyHandler.swift
+++ b/maestro-ios-xctest-runner/maestro-driver-iosUITests/Routes/Handlers/ViewHierarchyHandler.swift
@@ -242,16 +242,23 @@ struct ViewHierarchyHandler: HTTPHandler {
         return try? elementHierarchy(xcuiElement: alert)
     }
     
+    /// Status bars are read from one throwing snapshot of `element` (SpringBoard).
+    ///
+    /// Do not use `statusBars.firstMatch.exists` / `statusBars.allElementsBoundByIndex` here.
+    /// On iOS 26 one of SpringBoard's status bars is hosted by the keyboard process
+    /// (com.apple.InputUI). When the keyboard goes away mid-query, resolving that element
+    /// fails with kAXErrorInvalidUIElement, and those non-throwing APIs record an XCTest
+    /// failure ("Failed to resolve query") instead of throwing. That fails testHttpServer
+    /// and the runner exits. `snapshot()` throws instead, so a race just drops the status bars.
     func fullStatusBars(_ element: XCUIApplication) -> [AXElement]? {
-        guard element.statusBars.firstMatch.exists else {
+        do {
+            let root = try elementHierarchy(xcuiElement: element)
+            let statusBars = root.descendants(ofType: Int(XCUIElement.ElementType.statusBar.rawValue))
+            return statusBars.isEmpty ? nil : statusBars
+        } catch {
+            NSLog("[ViewHierarchyHandler] Status bar snapshot failed, continuing without status bars: \(error.localizedDescription)")
             return nil
         }
-        
-        let snapshots = try? element.statusBars.allElementsBoundByIndex.compactMap{ (statusBar) in
-            try elementHierarchy(xcuiElement: statusBar)
-        }
-        
-        return snapshots
     }
     
     /// Fetches the Safari WebView hierarchy for iOS 26+ where SFSafariViewController