Tattoos Confuse Apple Watch

A weird glitch has emerged with the Apple Watch—it doesn't work so great if you happen to have a tattoo on your wrist. After complaints surfaced on Reddit and other sites, the iMore blog investigated and confirmed: "After some brief tests, we're inclined to agree with those early reports—if your tattoo happens to be a solid, darker color." The ink apparently messes up the ability of the watch's sensors to detect skin contact and measure blood flow, explains the Sydney Morning Herald.

This isn't just a minor annoyance for those using the watch to track their heart rate, notes CNNMoney. If the watch doesn't think it's on a wrist, the wearer might not be able to get notifications, make calls, or use Apple Pay and certain apps. Apple hasn't weighed in yet, and it may be able to tweak its algorithms to fix the problem in the near future, reports the Verge. In the meantime, it adds, those with tattoos might want to visit an Apple Store to give the watch a test run before plunking down their money. (More Apple Watch stories.)