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Life is beautiful.

Tattoos are also generally unique.

Oh my sides! #

I'll happily pray to any deity that will listen that this will turn out to be an utterly unfixable problem. I can see hipsters just imploding in paradoxical rage.

Stick a fork in me; I'm done.
 
If you make an Apple product malfunction because Apple did not have foresight, then you shall be condemned for exposing such a malfunction that sheds bad light on Apple. Apple advocates will tend to steer the issue to another topic to move focus away from Apple's malfunctioning Watch.

You should look up the original antenna gate thread here. A user here is the one who first reported the issue and there is a 100 page thread about it. He was picked apart too.
 
Its not just with the Apple watch. I own a Gear S watch and have a tattoo on my wrist where I wear the watch. I have to move the watch up my wrist just a bit to get the heart rate sensor to work. I move the watch to my other wrist and the sensor works every time. I bought the watch back in February and immediately noticed this
 
Its not just with the Apple watch. I own a Gear S watch and have a tattoo on my wrist where I wear the watch. I have to move the watch up my wrist just a bit to get the heart rate sensor to work.

You should have said your Galaxy works fine with a tattoo. It would have sent people into a frenzy. :D:D
 
Here come all the "Don't get tattoos" comments.

People can do whatver they want, I just dont give a damn if their Apple Watch doesn't work. They're within the 14 day return window. If having tattoos up to their wrist is important to them, then they'll just have to sacrifice wearing the Apple Watch, at least on the wrist with the tat. Maybe they can wear it on their ankle if its not tatted up as well.
 
What is the problem? I can't wear it with my Patek Philippe so I don't get one...
You can't wear it on a tattoo so don't get one..
Simple solution! But still a fantastic watch!
 
This is a non-issue

You modified your body. You can't be upset when something doesn't work because of your modifications. I am not sure why this is a big story. It should be pretty obvious.
 
Second gen fixes. But surely Apple will already know this, they would have tested this 100s of times?!?
 
Yes, I am calling out Apple on this. Tattoos are a common thing. No, not everyone has it, but enough of the population does, and the fact that Apple, Fit Bit, MS, etc. didn't think through of this is pathetic. Pure and simple.

Isn't there a basic problem here? One of physics? Right now the technology can't deal with the issue. When it can be developed to do so, I'm sure all the manufacturers will adopt it.

The only thing they've all apparently gotten wrong (I haven't checked any manufacturer websites) is not making it very clear that some tattoos may interfere with one aspect of the operation of their various products.
 
Are there any black Apple watch users on the forum? Does this problem only affect dark tattoos?

There must be something about the ink pigmentation that is different than say an African black skin (about the darkest that I know at least), becasue a natural black skin can be very dark, darker than some of the tats I have seen.

In any case, this is why I have always told my daughters not to get tats as you can never go back if you have regrets later. (like good daughters, they totally ignored me SMH).


There is a difference between having a black tattoo and having black skin. When you get a tattoo, heavy metals are being injected into the layers of your skin. These metal molecules are what block the green light from reaching your blood vessels. If you have black skin, you have a pigment that does not contain heavy metals. Here are two interesting videos about tattoos. The first is getting a tattoo. The second is removing a tattoo.

https://youtu.be/kxLoycj4pJY
https://youtu.be/D0B7F5UbTOQ

If you want to read about having dark skin, here is the Wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_skin
 
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I did mention I work in the field.... I travel all over. I see and interact with probably the same amount of cultures right in my little city as you have in your world travels. Your sample which you stated are workers in one sector. I am talking about people of various cultures and jobs.

I think you are confusing things a bit. My main point is about tattoos on the wrists that would interfere with the apple watch sensors. NOT tattoos on a whole. And as such those are not as common as you think.( wrists)

And as such apple probably thought it would be a waste to solve an issue that may affect a very small percentage of customers.

I understand that I am talking about one sector, but we are talking about a huge world-wide industry with workers that come from a range of backgrounds and cultures... its not like those with sleeve tattoos are somehow drawn to this industry. So I politely disagree that just because I am talking about one sector doesn't mean its as diverse.

I also understand your point about sleeve tattoos, or ones that are on the wrist somewhere. I am not saying they are very common, but they aren't rare either. I mean, there are tons of athletes that have sleeve tattoos who I'm sure Apple would love to have wearing their watch and I have a few co-workers in my office that have sleeve tattoos as well.

So I get your point, but lets not forget all the things in the "accessibility" section of the iOS settings that only affects a small group of people too. Why is it OK for Apple to make sure they can use a product but not those with sleeve tattoos.
 
Did this guy not get a test model?

DrDre.jpg
 
Yes, it is.

Welcome to 2015. People have tattoos. Lots of people.

I'm looking forward to 2025, when there are enough middle-aged people schlepping around with sagging, fading tattoos so that younger people avoid them like they avoid facebook now. ("Eww. Get a tattoo? No, my dad has tattoos, and he thinks they're cool!")

Seriously, people have every right to decide they want tattoos wherever they want them. They just don't have a right to make it someone else's problem if something like an apple watch can't reliably sense a pulse through a layer of ink.

Tattoos are a thing that oddly combines the ephemeral nature of fashion and the lifelong commitment of having permanent ink injected under your skin. When you choose to get a tattoo located somewhere that isn't easily covered by clothing, you are committing to a lifetime of having that particular fashion choice be your front-and-center presentation to the world. You are committing to having people make their first impressions of you based on that tattoo, whether that impression is "cool tat!" or "makes bad choices in life." You are also apparently committing to the risk that your new apple watch might not work as well as you'd hoped.
 
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