Tattoo-gate? (Are Tattoos causing issues with your watch?)

[LNYMRKO]

Well I can confirm that my tattoos, albeit having a lot of negative skin space in them, do interfere with my Apple Watch. The heart rate sensor doesn't register, and I had to disable wrist detection and turn off the PIN code. I'm not too worried, as notifications still work, and Apple Pay isn't used in Australia yet (I'll always have my iPhone with me anyway I guess).

The only downside is that to turn the PIN code off, I had to remove my MS Exchange account off my iPhone (which I use purely for my work calendar). Just means I have to find a way to sync my Exchange calendar to my personal iCloud or GMail calendar somehow, which I'll look into.

Overall, I don't regret my purchase, just figured I'd let people know my experience with it!

 

[mooooof]

the tattoo on your hand plus that stainless steel looks badass btw.
-
i've been dealing with apple on the phone for the past 2 weeks, them calling me at random times each day, asking for pictures and videos of my wrist, the watch being worn and used by others without tattoos etc

feels like I've paid £300 to beta test a watch for them the last few weeks, very disappointed in the way its been dealt with.

the only support they offered me in the end is to return the watch for a refund and wait for the second generation.

 

[b3arclaw]

I preordered and made an appointment in store to try one on. Didn't notice any problems, but definitely will update with pictures/feedback once mine arrives!

 

[nasa25]

what does 'gate' mean? Some sort of gate?

 

[Cuyler]

what does 'gate' mean? Some sort of gate?

Ever since Watergate, the press likes to add "gate" at the end to indicate a scandal of some sort. When it iPhone 6 came out, people were claiming it would bend just by putting it in your pocket for a day — hence "Bendgate".

 

[Mymosa]

what does 'gate' mean? Some sort of gate?

Back when President Nixon was in office there was a controversy where he was having people spying and taping certain conversations. He denied all of this happening and since he had taped everything and there were portions of the tape missing it indicated that he lied and knew about everything from teh start. When it came out the building that this all happened in was called the Watergate building. So the whole event which lead to his resignation was called "watergate" now anytime there is a controversy where information appears to be hidden or known in advance and not disclosed "gate" is added to the end of the word.

If you hear someone in the US mockingly saying "I am not a crook" that is what he was constantly seen on the TV saying before the truth came out.

----------

the tattoo on your hand plus that stainless steel looks badass btw.
-
i've been dealing with apple on the phone for the past 2 weeks, them calling me at random times each day, asking for pictures and videos of my wrist, the watch being worn and used by others without tattoos etc

feels like I've paid £300 to beta test a watch for them the last few weeks, very disappointed in the way its been dealt with.

the only support they offered me in the end is to return the watch for a refund and wait for the second generation.

I spent a similarly long time on the phone trying to resolve the issue before they would admit that it might even really be the tattoo. I tested the watch on a Black person darker than me, and on a very light skinned white person, both of who had no tattoo's. No issues with the watch locking incessantly and Apple pay. I try it on my other wrist with no tattoo and it works fine.

It's no big deal but a pain. I don't switch wrists because what I do I use a watch on my hand to hide the tattoo for work purposes. It's all good. I got a free ipod shuffle for my troubles!

 

[iRebound]

Tattoo-gate? (Are Tattoos causing issues with your watch?)

Just got my watch 15 minutes ago. And the screen locks on me once in a while. Not all the time.

 

[Robert M.]

Had mine since launch, and just now realized that my tattoos do mess with the sensor. I have to put the watch on in a certain spot or it'll keep locking. the first week and a half was fine, guess I kept picking the right spot. Not lately, yesterday I spent 20 minutes trying to find the sweet spot.

Guess even faded tattoos on dark skin is a no go. You can't see in the picture, but there's another tattoo (a word) under the watch.

 

[nasa25]

Back when President Nixon was in office there was a controversy where he was having people spying and taping certain conversations. He denied all of this happening and since he had taped everything and there were portions of the tape missing it indicated that he lied and knew about everything from teh start. When it came out the building that this all happened in was called the Watergate building. So the whole event which lead to his resignation was called "watergate" now anytime there is a controversy where information appears to be hidden or known in advance and not disclosed "gate" is added to the end of the word.

If you hear someone in the US mockingly saying "I am not a crook" that is what he was constantly seen on the TV saying before the truth came out.

----------



I spent a similarly long time on the phone trying to resolve the issue before they would admit that it might even really be the tattoo. I tested the watch on a Black person darker than me, and on a very light skinned white person, both of who had no tattoo's. No issues with the watch locking incessantly and Apple pay. I try it on my other wrist with no tattoo and it works fine.

It's no big deal but a pain. I don't switch wrists because what I do I use a watch on my hand to hide the tattoo for work purposes. It's all good. I got a free ipod shuffle for my troubles!

oh…..so what does political corruption have to do with a watch?

 

[Aluminum213]

Amazing how people just deal with no wrist detection, no heart rate reading, constant password notice....


Just for the sake of having an apple watch despite the lack of these MAJOR features.

 

[pjschmid]

Same issues with No Tattoos

I had all the same issues noted in this tread but I have no tattoos on my wrist or anywhere else. I have to wonder if it is really the tattoos or a hardware issue, unless some light freckles are now the going to be tagged the culprit. Then we could have "freckle-gate" .

Seriously though, from the moment I got it I had my watch constantly locked (80 0- 90% of the time) - didn't get notifications - screen went dark after about one second. The locking stopped if I turned off wrist detection but I was still not getting notifications, I assume because it didn't know I was wearing the watch. I had to send it back and am awaiting a replacement.

 

[Cuyler]

oh…..so what does political corruption have to do with a watch?

The Watergate scandal was a small event that caused the downfall of an entire administration. Using the -gate suffix here implies that the Apple Watch is doomed, Tim Cook will resign and perhaps mark the beginning of the decline the company itself.

The term "Tattoo-gate" was also used in regards to the scandal where Ohio State football players traded their championship rings for tattoos (student athletes are not supposed to profit from their college career). The formally popular coach resigned as a result (but don't cry for Ohio State — they won the National Championship again earlier this year).

I had all the same issues noted in this tread but I have no tattoos on my wrist or anywhere else. I have to wonder if it is really the tattoos or a hardware issue, unless some light freckles are now the going to be tagged the culprit. Then we could have "freckle-gate" .

Perhaps there'll be an updated version of the software that implements freckle detection.

 

[LNYMRKO]

I preordered and made an appointment in store to try one on. Didn't notice any problems, but definitely will update with pictures/feedback once mine arrives!

When I tried mine on in store they were all in demo mode, so I couldn't actually use it properly to test it out.. was that not the case with yours?

----------

Amazing how people just deal with no wrist detection, no heart rate reading, constant password notice....

Just for the sake of having an apple watch despite the lack of these MAJOR features.

Seriously though, from the moment I got it I had my watch constantly locked (80 0- 90% of the time) - didn't get notifications - screen went dark after about one second. The locking stopped if I turned off wrist detection but I was still not getting notifications, I assume because it didn't know I was wearing the watch. I had to send it back and am awaiting a replacement.

I really couldn't care less about heart rate detection, I don't use mine for workouts otherwise I would have gotten the Sports model. Wrist detection off doesn't deter me either seeing as we don't have Apple Pay (in Australia)... what else does it do? If it gets stolen or comes off my wrist, and isn't in range of my phone it can't do much besides tell the time.. so I care not for a PIN code etc on a watch.

That's odd, with wrist detection and PIN code turned off on mine, I still get all my notifications, and the screen stays on when I want it to... though I have noticed mine doesn't necessarily "forward" the notifications.. what I mean is that mine behaves much like having SMS messages on your Mac.. I get the notification on both my iPhone and Watch basically the same time (usually comes through a second or two earlier on the device I was last using). When I dismiss or reply to it, it syncs instantly though.

 

[Mymosa]

oh…..so what does political corruption have to do with a watch?

Its a euphemism, anytime there is something where there may be a coverup, conspiracy, or the hiding of prior knowledge of something they add the word "gate" to it.
In this instance if it was truly "watch gate" that would imply corporate greed and misrepresentation in the fact that they may have known this issue existed and not mentioned it. They did initially deny that it was an issue but after more people reported it happening they added a statement to the apple website about the possibility of tattoos affecting the sensors.

lesson over!

----------

Amazing how people just deal with no wrist detection, no heart rate reading, constant password notice....


Just for the sake of having an apple watch despite the lack of these MAJOR features.

The only feature I can't use is Apple pay. I have tested the heart rate sensor on both arms and the readings have been similar. If I don't have a password It doesn't lock. I didn't want to have the password so that's fine. I have wrist detection on and that works fine.

With me it's truly just Apple pay which I'm fine with as I'd rather use my phone for it I have been.

 

[nasa25]

Its a euphemism, anytime there is something where there may be a coverup, conspiracy, or the hiding of prior knowledge of something they add the word "gate" to it.
In this instance if it was truly "watch gate" that would imply corporate greed and misrepresentation in the fact that they may have known this issue existed and not mentioned it. They did initially deny that it was an issue but after more people reported it happening they added a statement to the apple website about the possibility of tattoos affecting the sensors.

lesson over!

----------



The only feature I can't use is Apple pay. I have tested the heart rate sensor on both arms and the readings have been similar. If I don't have a password It doesn't lock. I didn't want to have the password so that's fine. I have wrist detection on and that works fine.

With me it's truly just Apple pay which I'm fine with as I'd rather use my phone for it I have been.

Jay Kay..... I know what the gate suffix means and where it comes from. It's just super annoying every time I see it and I wanted to shed light on how it has nothing to do with watches, iPhones, iPads, apple products, etc. thanks for the lesson though.

I'm using Benghazi as my 'gate' now

 

[b3arclaw]

When I tried mine on in store they were all in demo mode, so I couldn't actually use it properly to test it out.. was that not the case with yours?

----------

I tried on 2 different watches in store. A 38 and a 42MM. Are they preset to demo mode? The 42 I poked around on a bit and I didn't check the heart rate monitor vs my tattoos.

 

[Cuyler]

Jay Kay..... I know what the gate suffix means and where it comes from. It's just super annoying every time I see it and I wanted to shed light on how it has nothing to do with watches, iPhones, iPads, apple products, etc. thanks for the lesson though.

I'm using Benghazi as my 'gate' now

It's probably more efficient just say what you mean in the first place. I'm not that much of a fan of the "gate" meme either.

 

[LNYMRKO]

I tried on 2 different watches in store. A 38 and a 42MM. Are they preset to demo mode? The 42 I poked around on a bit and I didn't check the heart rate monitor vs my tattoos.

I went for 2 different try-on appointments, and yeah both times all the ones I tried on were in demo mode, they basically just had a movie playing on the screen of all it's functions, I couldn't actually use it. Could be just an Australian thing though!

 

[Skorpio]

Tattoo-gate? (Are Tattoos causing issues with your watch?)

I went for 2 different try-on appointments, and yeah both times all the ones I tried on were in demo mode, they basically just had a movie playing on the screen of all it's functions, I couldn't actually use it. Could be just an Australian thing though!

At my Apple Store's appointment (USA), the watches at the tables were in demo mode, but along the walls, there were watches that were "live". I tried the heart monitor on those and it read my tattooed arm immediately, but I have a spot on my wrist that isn't fully covered (yet).

 

[b3arclaw]

I went for 2 different try-on appointments, and yeah both times all the ones I tried on were in demo mode, they basically just had a movie playing on the screen of all it's functions, I couldn't actually use it. Could be just an Australian thing though!

The 38mm I tried on I know for sure was in demo mode, the "movie" comment makes sense. The 42 was not, that one I actually got to poke around and paly with.

Still no movement on my 42