Apple has quietly updated its support article on the Apple Watch heart rate feature, confirming the issue that was reported earlier this week by users with wrist tattoos having problems getting accurate readings.
Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance.
The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.
Apple had previously noted possible limitations with the sensor, indicating that a “small percentage of users” might not be able to get the heart monitor to work at all due to “various factors.” While it’s unclear whether Apple was specifically referring to tattoo-related problems is unclear, however a number of users have reported not only issues with getting the heart rate sensor to work, but also situations where the Apple Watch wrist detection security feature is triggered when placed on top of a black tattoo, requiring the user to enter a password each time the watch is awoken from sleep, and rendering Apple Pay unusable.
[via 9to5Mac]
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