diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 967722707..2543edc5d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+#TESTAR v2.8.18 (20-Oct-2026)
+- Bump io.appium:java-client from 10.1.1 to 11.0.0
+- Bump org.seleniumhq.selenium:selenium-java from 4.49.0 to 4.51.0
+
+
 #TESTAR v2.8.17 (30-Sep-2026)
 - Bump io.github.bonigarcia:webdrivermanager from 6.3.4 to 6.4.0
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 969e36b27..b872acd1f 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.8.17
\ No newline at end of file
+2.8.18
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/android/src/org/testar/monkey/alayer/android/AndroidAppiumFramework.java b/android/src/org/testar/monkey/alayer/android/AndroidAppiumFramework.java
index bf741c601..866f69113 100644
--- a/android/src/org/testar/monkey/alayer/android/AndroidAppiumFramework.java
+++ b/android/src/org/testar/monkey/alayer/android/AndroidAppiumFramework.java
@@ -34,19 +34,17 @@
 import org.testar.serialisation.ScreenshotSerialiser;
 
 import io.appium.java_client.AppiumBy;
-import io.appium.java_client.TouchAction;
 import io.appium.java_client.android.AndroidDriver;
 import io.appium.java_client.android.GsmCallActions;
 import io.appium.java_client.android.nativekey.AndroidKey;
 import io.appium.java_client.android.nativekey.KeyEvent;
 import io.appium.java_client.appmanagement.ApplicationState;
-import io.appium.java_client.touch.LongPressOptions;
-import io.appium.java_client.touch.offset.ElementOption;
 
 import org.testar.monkey.alayer.*;
 import org.testar.monkey.alayer.exceptions.SystemStopException;
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 import org.openqa.selenium.*;
+import org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Pause;
 import org.openqa.selenium.interactions.PointerInput;
 import org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Sequence;
 import org.openqa.selenium.logging.LogEntries;
@@ -267,24 +265,27 @@ public static void scrollElementById(String id, Widget w, int scrollDistance) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public static void longClickElementById(String id, Widget w) {
-		if (!hasDriver("longClickElementById")) {
-			return;
-		}
-
-		WebElement el;
-		if (!id.equals("")) {
-			el = driver.findElement(new AppiumBy.ByAccessibilityId(id));
-		}
-		else {
-			String xpathString = w.get(AndroidTags.AndroidXpath);
-			el = driver.findElement(new By.ByXPath(xpathString));
-		}
-
-		LongPressOptions longPressOptions = new LongPressOptions();
-		longPressOptions.withDuration(Duration.ofMillis(2500)).withElement(ElementOption.element(el));
-		new TouchAction(driver).longPress(longPressOptions).perform();
-	}
+    public static void longClickElementById(String id, Widget w) {
+        if (!hasDriver("longClickElementById")) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        WebElement element;
+        if (!id.equals("")) {
+            element = driver.findElement(new AppiumBy.ByAccessibilityId(id));
+        } else {
+            String xpathString = w.get(AndroidTags.AndroidXpath);
+            element = driver.findElement(new By.ByXPath(xpathString));
+        }
+
+        PointerInput finger = new PointerInput(PointerInput.Kind.TOUCH, "finger");
+        Sequence longPress = new Sequence(finger, 0);
+        longPress.addAction(finger.createPointerMove(Duration.ZERO, PointerInput.Origin.fromElement(element), 0, 0));
+        longPress.addAction(finger.createPointerDown(PointerInput.MouseButton.LEFT.asArg()));
+        longPress.addAction(new Pause(finger, Duration.ofMillis(2500)));
+        longPress.addAction(finger.createPointerUp(PointerInput.MouseButton.LEFT.asArg()));
+        driver.perform(Collections.singletonList(longPress));
+    }
 
 	public static void clickBackButton() {
 		if (!hasDriver("clickBackButton")) {
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index d11f946c8..781065b50 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -33,11 +33,11 @@ subprojects {
         implementation group: 'org.apache.logging.log4j', name: 'log4j-api', version: '2.15.0'
         implementation group: 'org.apache.logging.log4j', name: 'log4j-core', version: '2.15.0'
         // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.seleniumhq.selenium/selenium-java
-        implementation group: 'org.seleniumhq.selenium', name: 'selenium-java', version: '4.49.0'
+        implementation group: 'org.seleniumhq.selenium', name: 'selenium-java', version: '4.51.0'
         // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.github.bonigarcia/webdrivermanager
         implementation group: 'io.github.bonigarcia', name: 'webdrivermanager', version: '6.4.0'
         // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.appium/java-client
-        implementation group: 'io.appium', name: 'java-client', version: '10.1.1'
+        implementation group: 'io.appium', name: 'java-client', version: '11.0.0'
         // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.orientechnologies/orientdb-graphdb
         implementation group: 'com.orientechnologies', name: 'orientdb-graphdb', version: '3.2.38'
         // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.graalvm.sdk/graal-sdk
diff --git a/testar/src/org/testar/monkey/Main.java b/testar/src/org/testar/monkey/Main.java
index d3627de17..a3d85a80c 100644
--- a/testar/src/org/testar/monkey/Main.java
+++ b/testar/src/org/testar/monkey/Main.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 
 public class Main {
 
-	public static final String TESTAR_VERSION = "v2.8.17 (30-Sep-2026)";
+	public static final String TESTAR_VERSION = "v2.8.18 (20-Oct-2026)";
 
 	//public static final String TESTAR_DIR_PROPERTY = "DIRNAME"; //Use the OS environment to obtain TESTAR directory
 	public static final String SETTINGS_FILE = "test.settings";