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Apple watch pauses every 10-11 seconds in workout

I got my series 5 watch January 2020. Every single workout would pause after 10-11 seconds and would keep repeating until I restarted the watch. After over a year and a half of this issue and zero help from Apple I just upgraded to a 6 thinking it would solve my problems. I had every intention of checking it in the store before leaving but the watch was dead so I was unable to. Now that I’m home and set it up surprise surprise it does it as well. So I did some more searching online and saw where someone said their watch is disrupted by their tattoos. Thinking there might be something to this I switched my watch to my right (untattooed) side and the watch did not stop at 10-11 seconds. I switched it back to my left and it stopped again. I even put it higher on my arm where my tattoo isn’t present and it didn’t stop. Has anyone else noticed this as well?

Dows Apple have any idea how they can fix this problem? It’s clearly a problem because it’s all over the chat boards!

Apple Watch

Posted on Aug 9, 2021 6:57 PM

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Question marked as Apple recommended

See the 'What else affects your heart rate reading' section in :

Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch - Apple Support

"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."


I suspect that during a workout (when the watch is "continuously" trying to measure your heart rate) that the tattoo is interfering with the heart rate sensor and that is why you are seeing the pauses. For more info, see the 'When Apple Watch measures your heart rate' section in:

Monitor your heart rate with Apple Watch - Apple Support


I don't know of any work-around. Sorry.


Posted on Aug 9, 2021 7:23 PM

4 replies
Question marked as Apple recommended

Aug 9, 2021 7:23 PM in response to StephArmijo515

See the 'What else affects your heart rate reading' section in :

Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch - Apple Support

"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."


I suspect that during a workout (when the watch is "continuously" trying to measure your heart rate) that the tattoo is interfering with the heart rate sensor and that is why you are seeing the pauses. For more info, see the 'When Apple Watch measures your heart rate' section in:

Monitor your heart rate with Apple Watch - Apple Support


I don't know of any work-around. Sorry.


Aug 10, 2021 12:54 AM in response to StephArmijo515

Apple says;

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.


Wrist detection off;

Turning off wrist detection affects these Apple Watch features:


When you use Apple Pay on your Apple Watch, you’ll be prompted to enter your passcode when you double-click the side button to authorize the payment.


Some Activity measurements are unavailable.


Heart rate tracking and notifications are turned off.


Apple Watch will no longer automatically lock and unlock.


Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 and later won't automatically make an emergency call even after it has detected a hard impact fall.



Make sure that you wear your Apple Watch correctly. The wristband fit has to be snug. Not too tight but not too lose either. If the Watch is too lose on your wrist, and the case doesn’t touch the skin permanently, erroneous Wrist Detection readings might occur. If you move your hand with a loose fit, the Watch can stand more than one second away from your skin, which is enough to trigger Passcode locking.Long sleeve clothing can also accidentally trigger Passcode requests. If the fabric lands in-between the back of your Watch and your skin, light probing won’t work properly and the wearable will consider that it’s not on your wrist anymore. This problem is also caused by a too loose band fit. If you wear a jacket you can tighten up a notch.

Sep 8, 2021 11:41 PM in response to StephArmijo515

I have the series 3 watch and in the beginning, it always successfully tracked my workouts. But after repeated software upgrades, I started noticing that it has more and more problems tracking my workouts, even though they have not changed. Now, it always pauses after a few seconds no matter what workout I set. Very very disappointing. It cannot be tattoos on the wrist. I have tattoos on my wrist and I've always worn it on my right hand. In the beginning, it always tracked my workouts from start to finish, nothing has changed and now, it cannot detect my workouts. I only started noticing it after multiple software upgrades.

Apple watch pauses every 10-11 seconds in workout

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