There’s a new hashtag campaign swirling around Apple’s new Watch: #tattoogate. Users are complaining that tattoos are interfering with the locking mechanism and heart rate monitor on the wearable device. The ink underneath the top layer of skin apparently confuses the sensors and fails to disengage the Watch’s locking mechanism. According to one user on Reddit, said “My hand isn’t tattooed and the Watch stayed unlocked. Once I put it back on the area that is tattooed with black ink, the watch would automatically lock again.”
A report published by a Reuters writer said that the watch doesn’t alert to incoming messages when worn over a black tattoo. In addition, his heart rate readings were “significantly different” on the tattooed wrist compared to the untattooed wrist.
Apple support says that the device uses green LED lights and light-sensitive photodiodes to determine the volume of blood flowing through the wrist in order to figure out the frequency of heart beats of the wearer.
