Tattoos Can Cause Apple Watches To Malfunction....sorry if you are sleeved!

No more sleeves for you Apple Watch wearers....wonder how they are going to figure this one out. That would be a bummer for me.....good thing I could care less about having an Apple watch, or a watch at all for that matter.

Early adopters of the new Apple Watch have found that the device malfunctions when worn by people with wrist tattoos.

The issue was first pointed out on Reddit by a tattooed user who complained that his watch would regularly lose connection, and report inaccurate heart rate results.

Scores of other users then reported similar issues.

Apple Watch requests a security PIN immediately after detecting that it has left an owner's wrist, meaning that those affected are forced to repeatedly enter their code.

Darker tattoos appear to cause more problems for the device than light inkings.

Tattoos can cause Apple watches to Malfunction

Life can be difficult in the first world.

Life can be difficult in the first world.

originally posted by: newWorldSamurai
Life can be difficult in the first world.

This is the science and tech forum, we don't have to feed every homeless person before we discuss current tech issues.


I guess none of the apple engineers who tested this had wrist tattoos. :/

originally posted by: Elton

originally posted by: newWorldSamurai
Life can be difficult in the first world.

This is the science and tech forum, we don't have to feed every homeless person before we discuss current tech issues.


I guess none of the apple engineers who tested this had wrist tattoos. :/

Yeah....I am actually a bit shocked they had this issue come up.....I would think someone in R&D is getting a tongue lashing at this point. Not really sure how they could fix it though because of how the sensor works.

When your product is marketed at trendy hipsters who have tattoos, isn't that something you should account for?

a reply to: PorteurDeMort

I bet it will from now on...

Should this be a big surprise? Didn't they have a phone that you couldn't hold a certain way?

originally posted by: Elton

originally posted by: newWorldSamurai
Life can be difficult in the first world.

This is the science and tech forum, we don't have to feed every homeless person before we discuss current tech issues.


I guess none of the apple engineers who tested this had wrist tattoos. :/

which actually seems kinda surprising to me, but it does certainly seem that way. Haven't had a chance to read actual article yet, so I'm wondering what the issue is. I'm thinking there's like a sensor that the ink interferes with. In which case, I'd consider it both a design flaw and QA fail.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

How is this possible, I mean, how in the world the tattoos are causing this, anyone have an idea?

I don't get it.

originally posted by: MythMaster

originally posted by: Elton

originally posted by: newWorldSamurai
Life can be difficult in the first world.

This is the science and tech forum, we don't have to feed every homeless person before we discuss current tech issues.


I guess none of the apple engineers who tested this had wrist tattoos. :/

which actually seems kinda surprising to me, but it does certainly seem that way. Haven't had a chance to read actual article yet, so I'm wondering what the issue is. I'm thinking there's like a sensor that the ink interferes with. In which case, I'd consider it both a design flaw and QA fail.

It is the way the sensor works:

The problem should have been foreseeable - Apple has already explained that it measures heart rate by analysing light absorption through the skin

So with a tattoo it block light absorption and the watch locks as if it doesn't recognize it is on your wrist.

People who want big brother on their body desesves this kinda crap (technology)

a reply to: Vasa Croe

With it measuring light shooting through the skin, you would think they tried different skin colors and obviously the possibility of a tatoo.. That's just bad product testing.

This reminds me of an episode of "Better Off Ted" where the company (whose name I can't remember) installs new sensors in all of their rooms and on all of their doors that will turn the lights off when there's no one in the room... or open the door when someone is coming. It was a great idea to save lots of money on lighting rooms, or on loss of air conditioned air to the outside. The only problem was that the sensors would only work on light-coloured skin.

Naturally, that led to some people thinking the system worked beautifully... and others thinking that it was racially profiling them.

So what happens if you're black. I mean really dark skinned.

So it won't work on me? I have a dark skin.

Calibration!!
Surely there's a way to calibrate for individual skin tone/color? I would have though a simple firmaware update ought to solve the problem.

What is so great with this watch? It looks... crap honestly.

Never mind

Looks at both arms.... Looks like I am out of luck. Glad I don't have one.